Additional Trump Budget Documents Show Extensive USDA ERS Cuts

New documents detailing President Trump’s budget request show significant cuts to the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. The White House released the rest of its fiscal year 2020 budget proposal this week, and cited savings on salaries in the Economic Research Service as a way to cut spending, according to the Hagstrom Report.

A document titled “Major Savings and Reforms” noted the administration proposal to move the Economic Research Service closer to stakeholders and outside of the Washington, D.C. region, which would provide “the potential for savings on employment costs." The proposal notes that the 28% locality pay for the national capital region is higher than the national average. In the Agriculture Department, the document also cited a reduction in forest and rangeland research and elimination of the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program, the Rural Business and Cooperative Programs and single-family housing direct loans. Agriculture lawmakers in the House and Senate have already voiced their planned rejection to USDA and crop insurance cuts proposed by the administration.

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