DOGE

There are still many questions about the DOGE cuts put forward by the Administration, but one thing is for certain; the local potato industry is already feeling the impact.   Chris Voigt, Executive Director of the Washington state Potato Commission, said the federal cuts weren’t surgical, and it appears there wasn’t much thought behind the decisions made.  Voigt said the...

A host of issues being debated in D.C. look to have a direct, or indirect, impact on the farming community across the Northwest.  For the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, the 2017 Tax Relief Bill set to expire at the end of this year is one of the top issues.   “Once ...

President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE, has silently updated the lease terminations listed on-line, and USDA offices have been majorly impacted.  In March, the Wall of Receipts listed nearly 750 government office lease terminations, planned as part of the DOGE agenda to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”  Now, the num...

Several Senate Democrats say they are concerned that federal staffing cuts could impact firefighting efforts this summer.  Senators from Oregon and Washington say some firefighters and support staff are gone from the Forest Service.  Oregon’...

Top House Ag Democrat Angie Craig said her farmers claim Farm Service Agency offices are way understaffed, despite USDA Secretary Rollins’ vow to keep all FSA offices open.  Craig was asked if Secretary Rollins could keep all FSA offices open when 11-hundred FSA staffers have taken deferred resignation buyouts.   “I had...

Due to federal cuts and changes in D.C., Washington State University’s Bread Lab announced last month it has been ordered to cease spending a five-year, $10 million Soil to Society grant.  The funding came through the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s Sustainable Agriculture Systems program.  WSU said they were in yea...

Democrats in the Senate have asked USDA to explain why the Department of Government Efficiency must approve certain government farm loans and loan guarantees before they are issued.  The lawmakers also told USDA they wanted details about how such reviews are being conducted and whether DOGE will be vetting other USDA farm assistance programs.   The l...

How are Doge cuts impacting the farming community?  That depends on who you ask.   Some in rural America are applauding the Administration’s work to trim agencies in an effort to shrink the national debt.  But others are concerned that these cuts to USDA, ARS, and others will create more problems for farmers than they will prevent.  Central Washington’s Dan New...

More than 15,000 USDA employees have taken one of the Trump administration's two financial incentive offers to leave the agency.  According to Reuters, the sum represents about 15% of the USDA's total workforce.   President Trump's administration has offered federal employees several months of pay and benefits if they opt to leave their jobs as part of his effort to shrink the federal workforce.  

When the Trump Administration took office, and established DOGE, one of the first programs that was reviewed, and eventually dismantled, was USAID.  The Administration said the $40 billion organization, which employed thousands of people, was wasting taxpayer funds and not doing the work it was established to do.  Many in...