Secretary of Agriculture Signals More Cuts to Come at USDA

“We are proud to invite the Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] here into USDA,” said Secretary Brooke Rollins.

February 14, 2025

February 14, 2025 – In her first address to USDA staff as Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins shared a list of things the agency will be doing differently under this administration: First on the list was more fully participating in efforts she said DOGE had already started. “We are proud to invite the Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] here into USDA,” she said. “It will make us stronger. It will make us faster, and it will make us more efficient. We will expect full access from all of our teams here at USDA to this effort.” Her comments come just a day after Politico reported the agency is firing about 3,400 employees of its Forest Service.

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Second on her to-do list was to “end identity politics, identity celebrations, and DEI.” The USDA has already begun purging language and efforts focused on racial equity from its programming and has told employees they are required to report staff that may be disguising efforts that qualify as DEI.

Finally, Rollins said all USDA personnel who currently work from home will be required to return to the office. Speaking to her broader vision, she said, “We will keep the trust handed us in our programs to fight disease, to feed the needy, to manage our land and our forests, and most of all, to work for all of American agriculture.” (Link to this post.)

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Lisa Held is Civil Eats’ senior staff reporter and contributing editor. Read more >

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Secretary of Agriculture Signals More Cuts to Come at USDA