Proposed cuts to USDA are received by many with skepticism, but no 'final funding decisions have been made'

Proposed USDA cuts are controversial.
(Adobe Stock photo)

The Trump administration is inching closer to major cuts across U.S. Department of Agriculture staffing and programs as the administration continues its federal government downsizing efforts.

According to a White House document obtained by Government Executive, "the Office of Management and Budget proposing fiscal 2026 funding levels would gut research and conservation efforts, trim program budgets nearly across the board and cut staff . . .," reports Eric Katz.

The document is considered a "passback" or “predecisional,” and "assumes savings from upcoming layoffs at USDA," Katz explains. 

Zachary Ducheneaux, who served as Farm Services Agency administrator for four years until January, "likened the Trump administration's approach to a beef cattle producer starving his cows to boost efficiency and then getting rid of them when those results, predictably, do not occur," Katz reports.

Ducheneauz told Katz, "In all of my travels in the last four years, I have never heard any single producer say, ‘We have too many damn staff in [USDA] offices and we hate them.'"

Planned cuts would eliminate two large food programs that feed "vulnerable populations abroad' with food grown by American farmers. Katz writes, "McGovern-Dole and Food for Peace grants, which are collectively allocating nearly $2 billion annually — would see their funding eliminated."

The Rural Utility Service programs that provide numerous services to rural communities, including "health care opportunities for rural residents and funding for reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal and storm water drainage in rural areas would be decimated," Katz adds. "Asked about the cuts, Alexandra McCandless, an OMB spokesperson, said only that 'no final funding decisions have been made.'