David Scott

The USDA says it will establish an Equity Commission and is looking for nominations for membership on the Commission’s Advisory Committee and Subcommittee on Agriculture. “USDA is committed to advancing equity throughout the Department,” said Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. The Equity Co ...

The leadership of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees applaud the recent nominations by President Joe Biden to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. President Biden nominated Rostin Behman as CFTC chair, and Kristin Johnson and Cristy Goldsmith Romero as commissioners ...

On Thursday, leaders of the House Agriculture Committee called for a full-House vote on a bipartisan rural broadband bill. Chairman David Scott and Ranking Member Glenn GT Thompson requested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican leadership bring the Broadband Internet Connections for Rural America Act to the House Floor for a vote ...

A federal judge in Florida this week blocked the Department of Agriculture’s debt relief program for minority farmers. A white farmer in Florida challenged the program, facing farm loans and financial hardship during the pandemic. The farmer claims the debt relief program discriminated against him by race. Acco ...

Trade Representative Katherine Tai returned to the U.S. Thursday following a successful trip to Europe. Tai, along with counterparts from the European Union and the United Kingdom, agreed to suspend tariffs caused by disagreements over aircraft ...

The FBI is investigating, and the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee wants to know if Russia was behind the recent ransomware attack on JBS USA. Chairman David Scott said the “cowardly hacking” of critical U.S. “food, energy, and financial systems must be stopped,” and Russia must be held “accountable” if it’s somehow involved. While the House Ag Committee Chairman h ...

House Ag Committee Chair David Scott sent a letter to President Biden recently regarding his American Jobs Plan and American Family Plan. While the Democrat from Georgia supports the historic nature of the plans, he’s unhappy with some of Biden’s tax proposals to help pay for the plans. Scott sai ...

The House Agriculture Committee held a historic hearing Thursday reviewing the state of Black farmers in the United States. The hearing detailed decades of systemic racism and discrimination against Black Farmers by the USDA. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told lawmakers, “We will over the next four years do everything we can to root out whatever systemic racism and barriers that may exist at

On Saturday, the Senate passed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. The package, known as the American Rescue Plan, will extend federal unemployment benefits, offer up to $1,400 in direct payments to individuals earning less than $80,000, and increase funding for several nutrition assistance programs ...

By a 92-7 vote Tuesday, the Senate confirmed former Iowa Governor and two term Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack to head the USDA yet again. There was really no debate Tuesday, but there was some bipartisan praise from Senate Ag chair Debbie Stabenow and ranking committee member John Boozman ...