"Trump administration Orders #USDA Employees to Investigate Foreign Researchers They Work With."
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-usda-foreign-scientists

PS: One more reason why non-US scientists will not want to collaborate with US scientists. One more blow to science as an international effort.

#Agriculture #DefendResearch #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

"Trump’s #USDA Is Hiding the #Data on #FoodStamp Cuts."
https://www.motherjones.com/food/2026/01/trump-rollins-usda-snap-food-insecurity/

"In normal conditions, said Tufts University food economist Parke Wilde, policymakers and government workers would ask, 'What are the consequences of policy changes…so that we can calibrate and improve the program in the future?’ We won’t be able to do that this year."

#Agriculture #Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #SNAP #Takedowns #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

"Trump administration Orders #USDA Employees to Investigate Foreign Researchers They Work With."
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-usda-foreign-scientists

PS: One more reason why non-US scientists will not want to collaborate with US scientists. One more blow to science as an international effort.

#Agriculture #DefendResearch #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

Trump Administration Orders USDA Employees to Investigate Foreign Researchers They Work With
---

The new directive asks workers to check the backgrounds of foreign nationals collaborating with the department’s scientists for evidence of “subversive or criminal activity.” Their names are being sent to national security experts at the agency.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-usda-foreign-scientists?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #USDA #Science #Research #Academia #USPolitics #Trump

So, when the time comes, our #Farmer friends already have #Pitchforks!

With tractor parade, Maine farmers protest #USDA cuts that could leave many in debt

by Eesha Pendharkar
Wed, April 16, 2025 at 4:12 PM EDT

"Steve Sinisi of Old Crow Ranch in Durham was among dozens of farmers who paraded through the streets of Augusta on Wednesday on tractors bearing signs like 'Support Farmers, Not #Billionaires' and ' #CompostTrump.'

"The more than 100 farmers and supporters were there to protest the millions of dollars in federal cuts to agricultural grants and programs and raise awareness about the impacts they would have on their farms and livelihoods."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tractor-parade-maine-farmers-protest-201230864.html

#FarmersAgainstFascism #BadDOGE #FarmersResist #MaineFarmers #TractorParade #MaineResists #CompostTheRich

@ProPublica

The #USDA is requiring #SNAP recipients to reapply for benefits. They already do so every six months. If pain is the point, why not make them apply every month?

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/14/trump-usda-snap-participants-reapply-benefits-00651874

#USDA itself, in a memo dated Sept30, explained that #SNAP funding would lapse because of the #shutdown & that the #OMB would use contingency reserves to pay for benefits past Oct. That memo, however, was scrubbed from the agency’s website later in Oct, once the #Trump admin began arguing against tapping contingency funds to pay for benefits.
In the MSNBC interview, host Chris Jansing also explained that Mei was speaking as herself & a #union leader, not a USDA employee.
#law #labor #FreeSpeech

The next day, #USDA informed Mei that the process to remove her from her position had begun. In correspondence reviewed by WaPo, an official in the USDA human resources dept told Mei that she will be let go 30 days after the #shutdown ends. The agency accused Mei of discussing USDA programs & funding “without prior approval.”

#Trump #law #labor #SNAP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech

In the 4-min interview, Mei said she & her co-workers are “anxious because we’re hearing about the risk potentials & office closures that are looming over #USDA as this #shutdown kind of drags on.” She also explained that funding for key #FoodAssistance programs, including #SNAP — which feeds ~42M Americans monthly — would probably be available in October, but that “things might get a little dicey if this drags on into November.”

[gee such a fireable offense!]

#Trump #law #labor #FreeSpeech

The employee, Ellen Mei, a program specialist at the #Food & #Nutrition Service who is furloughed, was interviewed on MSNBC on Oct 2, during the early days of the #shutdown, to talk about how the impasse in Washington would impact her team, as well as the work they do. Mei is also president of the National Treasury Employees #Union’s Chapter 255, which represents employees at #USDA’s Food & Nutrition Service in the Northeast.
#Trump #law #labor #SNAP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech

@heidilifeldman states who managed just fine on less than 2 weeks notice include #virginia, with a republican gov

@dramypsyd #virginia started with weekly monies onto #snap cards last Monday. Think they continued today. It was not hard to do. Gov (and legisl?) decided and about a week maybe two later boom card filled. So how could #usda “forget” how to do this but every state can who wants to?

$38.5 m a week from #va rainy day fund budget surplus.

Trump told #states on Saturday to “immediately undo” any actions to provide full #FoodStamp benefits to #LowIncome families, threatening financial penalties if they do not comply. The late-night guidance from the #USDA adds to the uncertainty surrounding the nation’s largest anti- #hunger program during the govt #shutdown. Officials in several states said they remained unsure on Sunday how the directive would affect the roughly one in eight Americans who rely on #SNAP.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/business/trump-administration-states-undo-full-snap-food-stamps.html?smid=url-share

Trump told #states on Saturday to “immediately undo” any actions to provide full #FoodStamp benefits to #LowIncome families, threatening financial penalties if they do not comply. The late-night guidance from the #USDA adds to the uncertainty surrounding the nation’s largest anti- #hunger program during the govt #shutdown. Officials in several states said they remained unsure on Sunday how the directive would affect the roughly one in eight Americans who rely on #SNAP.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/business/trump-administration-states-undo-full-snap-food-stamps.html?smid=url-share

The #USDA planned to freeze payments to #SNAP starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown. The USDA has a $5 billion contingency fund for the program, but the #Trump admin reversed an earlier agency plan to use that money to keep SNAP running. #Democrats argue that the admin could also use a separate fund of about $23 billion.

The situation leaves millions with uncertainty about how they will feed themselves.

#law #judiciary #LetThemEatCake

The #USDA planned to freeze payments to #SNAP starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown. The USDA has a $5 billion contingency fund for the program, but the #Trump admin reversed an earlier agency plan to use that money to keep SNAP running. #Democrats argue that the admin could also use a separate fund of about $23 billion.

The situation leaves millions with uncertainty about how they will feed themselves.

#law #judiciary #LetThemEatCake

Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that the #Trump admin must continue to fund #SNAP, the nation’s biggest #food #aid program, using contingency funds during the government #shutdown.

The rulings came a day before the #USDA planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown.

#law #FoodStamps #poverty
https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-10-31-2025?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-10-31-Breaking+News

Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that the #Trump admin must continue to fund #SNAP, the nation’s biggest #food #aid program, using contingency funds during the government #shutdown.

The rulings came a day before the #USDA planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown.

#law #FoodStamps #poverty
https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-10-31-2025?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-10-31-Breaking+News

“If they want to eat they should get a job!”

“My taxes shouldn’t pay for people who aren’t productive”

“It’s their fault they’re hungry”

My latest is about the ‘useless eater’ rhetoric that has dominated social media ever since news broke that SNAP wouldn’t be funded in November.

People are blaming individuals for what is clearly a society wide failure.

Wealth inequality coupled with rising prices and falling wages mean millions rely on food assistance to survive.

In three days, 42 million Americans will be without food. They will start to starve.

No one deserves this.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/no-one-deserves-to-starve

#uspol #poverty #foodassistance #snap #usda #fascism #disability #eugenics #ableism

“If they want to eat they should get a job!”

“My taxes shouldn’t pay for people who aren’t productive”

“It’s their fault they’re hungry”

My latest is about the ‘useless eater’ rhetoric that has dominated social media ever since news broke that SNAP wouldn’t be funded in November.

People are blaming individuals for what is clearly a society wide failure.

Wealth inequality coupled with rising prices and falling wages mean millions rely on food assistance to survive.

In three days, 42 million Americans will be without food. They will start to starve.

No one deserves this.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/no-one-deserves-to-starve

#uspol #poverty #foodassistance #snap #usda #fascism #disability #eugenics #ableism

~1 in 8 people in the #US receive food stamps, which avg ~$187 a month & cost the Federal govt ~$8B/month. #Congress must regularly approve money for it, though #SNAP maintains a sizable reserve to cover shortfalls.
Many congressional #Democrats & #Republicans encouraged the #Trump admin to use this funding to preserve #FoodStamps into Nov. But the Trump admin declined Friday to extend that reprieve, even though the #USDA said weeks ago it could reprogram the money to prevent benefit cuts.

#law