Three years into disbursements, strategies vary — and so does transparency. Some governments submitted required reports only after a reporter asked. Others have yet to spend anything.
The post How are Wisconsin’s local governments spending millions in opioid settlement payouts? appeared first on WPR.
Ms. Packer became a favorite of birders while successfully rearing chicks, nesting with a male named Vince and starring in local TV news. Earlier this month, Ms. Packer died, likely while trying to protect her chicks from a predator.
The post Ms. Packer, piping plover who symbolized species’ recovery in Green Bay, dies appeared first on WPR.
It’s the height of the summer homebuying season in Wisconsin, and last week the Wisconsin Realtors Association released its monthly housing report for June.
The post ‘There’s signs of life’: Wisconsin housing expert analyzes new state data appeared first on WPR.
Changes and cuts to Medicaid in the so-called “big, beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this month have rural hospitals and health care advocates concerned.
The post Already in the red, rural hospitals across the Midwest brace for Medicaid changes appeared first on WPR.
Animal shelters and rescues across Wisconsin have experienced a recent uptick in people giving up, or surrendering, their pets.
The post Wisconsin animal shelters experiencing an ‘unprecedented’ number of pet surrenders appeared first on WPR.
Residents in Door County created a grassroots network of composting sites across the peninsula, such that people don’t have to drive more than a few miles to drop their food scraps.
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Days after posting cryptic messages on social media hinting at a prospective run for governor, former Gov. Scott Walker says he won’t run for his old job next year.
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The largest grain terminal at the Port of Duluth-Superior will close by the end of August after almost a century of operation in Superior.
The post Almost century-old grain terminal at Superior port to close next month appeared first on WPR.
An 1898 Alphonse Mucha JOB poster; a 1974 George Nakashima “Kent Hall” floor lamp; a 1961 Ty Cobb-signed baseball.
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Arkansas hospital increases energy efficiency by diagnosing cooling tower issues and treating its entire mechanical system.Healthcare facilities require a substantial amount of energy to operate. In fact, the average hospital consumes approximately 250% more energy than a comparably sized commercial building, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. As hospitals face increasing financial pressure to …
The post From Cooling Towers to Cost Savings: Hospital Seizes Power-Saving Opportunity appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.
President Donald Trump and European Union leaders announced a trade framework over the weekend that will set 15% import taxes on EU goods. (Photo by Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and European Union leaders announced a trade framework over the weekend, just days ahead of Trump’s self-imposed Friday deadline to increase import taxes and his emergency tariffs come under scrutiny in federal appeals court Thursday.
Under the agreement, a 15% tariff will be applied to all products, with some exceptions, coming into the U.S. from the 27 member nations that make up the EU.
The 15% rate will also apply to automobiles, down from the 25% levy on foreign vehicles that Trump ordered in April. Trump’s 50% sectoral tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum will remain unchanged for the EU. The deal exempts certain products, including aircraft, from tariffs altogether.
Tariffs are import taxes paid to the U.S. government by businesses and other buyers that import foreign goods.
“Fifteen percent is not to be underestimated, but it was the best we could get,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters during a press conference Sunday.
Similar to the deal Trump announced with Japan on July 23, the EU has agreed to invest $600 billion in the United States over Trump’s term. The bloc of nations has also agreed to purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy, including liquid natural gas, over the next three years as a way to wean off of Russian fossil fuels.
The White House touted the deal as “fundamentally rebalancing the economic relationship between the world’s two largest economies,” in a press release issued Monday.
The U.S. imported more goods from the EU than it exported by about $235.8 billion in 2024, according to Census data.
Trump had threatened to raise what he describes as “reciprocal” tariffs — tariffs on products outside sectoral categories of steel, aluminum and vehicles — to 30% by Aug. 1 on products from Europe, Japan and numerous other trading partners.
Trump set the date as the new deadline for his “Liberation Day” tariffs to take effect. The president announced the tariffs in early April and then promptly paused them after markets plummeted around the globe. The episode triggered a trade war with China, during which U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods peaked at 145% before the two parties agreed to negotiate.
On what the president described as “Liberation Day” on April 2, Trump heralded a universal 10% tariff on all foreign products, plus staggering additional so-called reciprocal import taxes on countries across the globe that carry trade imbalances with the U.S.
Trump justified the steep duties by declaring trade imbalances a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
In February, Trump became the first president to trigger tariffs under the 1977 emergency powers law when he increased import taxes on Canada, Mexico and China in response to illegal fentanyl smuggling.
The emergency tariffs are at the center of a case that will go before the U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit Thursday.
The case stems from two lawsuits, now consolidated, filed by a handful of businesses and a dozen Democratic state attorneys general who argued the president doesn’t have authority to impose tariffs under the emergency law.
The U.S. Court of International Trade struck down Trump’s emergency tariffs as unconstitutional on May 28.
Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon were among the states that brought the suit.
V.O.S. Selections, a New York-based company that imports wine and spirits from 16 countries, led the business plaintiffs. Others included a Utah-based plastics producer, a Virginia-based children’s electricity learning kit maker, a Pennsylvania-based fishing gear company and a Vermont-based women’s cycling apparel company.
Upon appeal from the White House, the Federal Circuit allowed Trump’s tariffs to remain in place while the case moved forward.
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. (Miles Maguire | courtesy of the photographer)
Republican lawmakers are proposing a state law to limit tuition increases after the University of Wisconsin system approved another tuition hike earlier this month.
The Board of Regents voted earlier this month to increase tuition by 5% at most UW campuses. UW-Green Bay is the exception with a 4% tuition increase after opting out of an additional 1%. UW-River Falls received a 5.8% increase in tuition to help support student success initiatives.
According to the UW system, the increase will be an average of about $382.
The draft bill, coauthored by Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken) and Rep. David Murphy (R-Greenville), would prohibit the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents from increasing undergraduate tuition by more than the consumer price index increase in a given year. The authors said the latest increases were “roughly double the increase in the Consumer Price Index over the past year.”
“Now more than ever, the Legislature must implement a common sense law placing controls on these types of skyrocketing tuition increases,” the lawmakers wrote in a cosponsorship memo. “That’s why we are again introducing legislation to cap tuition and fee increases for in-state Wisconsin undergraduates at levels no higher than the rate of inflation.”
UW spokesperson Mark Pitsch said in a statement responding to the bill that the UW is “among the most affordable across the U.S.”
“It is critical that we have the flexibility to maintain the quality that students deserve and parents expect,” Pitsch said.
UW President Jay Rothman proposed the tuition increases earlier this month following the signing of the new state budget, which provided a little over $250 million to the UW system — an amount that fell below the requests the system had said would be necessary to avoid tuition increases.
“After a decade of a tuition freeze and lagging state aid, we believe we have struck a balance for students and families with this proposal and the recent state investments in the UWs as part of the 2025-27 biennial budget,” Rothman said in a statement at the time.
This is the third consecutive tuition increase since the end of the 10-year tuition freeze — a trend that comes as state funding makes up a smaller portion of the UW system’s budget.
State funding currently makes up about a fifth of the UW’s total revenue. In contrast, state general purpose revenue made up 41.8% of the UW System’s budget in 1984-85.
Regent Ashok Rai said that even with the state investment, there continues to be a gap between the funding and the UW system’s ability to keep up with inflation and compensation increases for faculty and staff.
“The proposed tuition rates will ensure that UWs remain affordable compared to our neighboring peers,” Rai said.
According to the UW, its tuition increased just 7.7% from 2015 to 2025 — a rate below the tuition increases for its peers in other states, which had tuition increases ranging from 21.7% to 28.8% over the 10 years.
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Earlier this month, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said the state would provide $11 million in funding if Planned Parenthood loses its lawsuit and federal support. There are 30 clinics in the state that serve 10,000 patients every year. (Photo by Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard)
Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide are once again protected from a “defunding” provision passed by Congress after a federal judge in Massachusetts granted an emergency request for a new preliminary injunction.
The order from U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, comes one week after an initial injunction blocked only certain clinics from receiving Medicaid funds under the new law. One of the affiliates that filed the lawsuit, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, along with affiliates that did not provide abortion services or that did not bill Medicaid more than $800,000 in fiscal year 2023 were protected, which covered a fraction of the 600 clinics nationwide.
In the weeks since President Donald Trump signed massive budget reconciliation bill H.R. 1 on July 4, the mere threat of cuts has caused clinics to close or restrict services in several states. Two clinics shut their doors in rural areas of Ohio, two closed in the Houston area of Texas, and five closed in California, according to news reports. In California alone, the Medicaid cuts would create a loss of $300 million in funding for the state’s 114 clinics that serve more than 1 million patients per year, according to CalMatters.
In Washington state, where abortion access is legal and available until fetal viability, Gov. Bob Ferguson announced on July 9 that the state would provide the $11 million in federal funding lost if the lawsuit is unsuccessful. There are 30 Planned Parenthood clinics in Washington that serve 10,000 patients every year, and Medicaid covers about half of them, Washington State Standard reported.
The national group, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the initial decision was disappointing and asked the court to reconsider, which Talwani granted Monday.
Attorneys for the Trump administration appealed the initial injunction on July 23, and told the court they opposed the emergency request for a new injunction.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America and affiliates in Massachusetts and Utah sued just a few days after Congress passed the bill that included the provision the organization said directly targeted their services for Medicaid funding cuts — a longstanding goal of anti-abortion advocates and many Republican elected officials. Federal Medicaid dollars cannot be used for abortion services except in cases of rape, incest, or certain health conditions.
The clinics rely heavily on Medicaid funding to provide standard reproductive health care at little to no cost, including treatment for sexually transmitted infections, cancer screenings and contraception. Planned Parenthood provides services for about 2 million patients every year, and 64% of clinics are in rural areas or places with health care provider shortages.
In the order, Talwani said the law — part of a sweeping package of tax and spending cuts approved by a party-line vote — unfairly targets Planned Parenthood for punishment without a trial, and violates free speech constitutional rights by preventing the organization from advocating for reproductive health care.
Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice have argued Congress was free to target those clinics because “larger providers carry out more abortions and receive more government subsidies,” and said the law is meant to “stop federal subsidies for Big Abortion.” Talwani said those arguments were not persuasive, and that it is unlikely they can justify the defunding as part of a goal to reduce abortion.
“… it is unclear how including only entities that are non-profits and provide medical services in underserved communities is in any way related to reducing abortion. Nor is it clear how withholding Medicaid reimbursements from Planned Parenthood Members who do not provide abortion furthers that end,” Talwani wrote.
Dominique Lee, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, called the ruling a “powerful reminder that patients, not politics, should guide health care.”
Lee said in a statement: “In Massachusetts and beyond, we will keep fighting to ensure everyone can turn to the provider they trust, no matter their insurance or zip code.”
Sheena Scarborough, mother of Sade Robinson, a 19-year-old woman murdered last year, thanked Rep. Shelia Stubbs for her efforts calling attention to the violence Black women and girls face. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
For the third session in a row, State Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) is calling on Wisconsin lawmakers to create a task force to examine the violence African American women and girls face and develop policy solutions to prevent others from going missing and being murdered.
The bill would establish a 17-member task force to produce a report on the issue. Members would include two Senators, two Assembly representatives and other stakeholders, along with law enforcement representatives and representatives from advocacy or legal organizations, including those that focus on Black women and girls.
“This is my third time to try and get a critical piece of legislation passed into law,” Stubbs said at a press conference Friday.
Stubbs, inspired by a similar task force in Minnesota and one focused on Indigenous women in Wisconsin, first introduced the proposal during the 2021-2023 legislative session, but it failed to gain traction. The second iteration of the bill, during the 2023-25 session, passed the Assembly but stalled in the Senate as former Sen. Duey Stroebel initially refused to allow the bill to move forward. It eventually received a public hearing and was approved by a committee but never advanced to a vote on the Senate floor.
“Can anyone tell me why this critical legislation could not get scheduled? Can you tell these families why their loved one was not important enough to at least get a hearing?” Stubbs asked at the press conference. “It is not fair to these victims and their families that they have to continue to wait for this Legislature to do something.”
Stubbs said Wisconsin has the “worst disparity in the nation” when it comes to Black women and girls being killed. A 2022 investigation by the Guardian found five Black women and girls were killed each day in the U.S. in 2020. Wisconsin was the worst in the country, with the rate doubling that year.
Coauthors on the new bill include Rep. Pat Snyder (R-Weston), Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp) and LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee).
“I’m demanding that we get an answer,” Stubbs said. “I am demanding that we get justice. How many more victims do we need in this state before we do something?”
Stubbs was joined at the press conference by Sheena Scarborough, mother of 19-year-old Sade Robinson, who was murdered last year.
“The things that we have gone through as a family,” Scarborough said. “They stand behind me knowing exactly what it’s like being a victim of a severe traumatic crime in the worst possible way… We are still dealing with ongoing trauma daily.”
A jury found Maxwell Anderson guilty last month of murdering and dismembering Robinson, who had gone on a first date with him in 2024. Anderson’s sentencing is this week.
Scarborough said there wasn’t enough support as she dealt with law enforcement and navigated the criminal justice system for the first time following her daughter’s murder. The lack of support pushed her to start the Sade’s Voice Foundation, she said. The nonprofit was formed to advocate and provide support for the families of missing Black women and girls.
“There weren’t many other supports through this time…. It doesn’t matter if you are Republican or Democrat. These are our babies. This was my daughter. She was a granddaughter. She was a sister. She had her whole life ahead of her,” Scarborough said. “The task force is definitely needed.”
The task force would examine several related issues. They include systemic causes of the violence Black women and girls experience, the appropriate methods for tracking and collecting data on violence against Black women and girls, government practices including policing related to investigating and prosecuting crimes against Black women and girls, measures that could reduce violence against them and ways to support victims and their families.
The final report, which would be due by 2027, would need to recommend policies and practices that would be effective in reducing gender violence and increasing the safety of Black women and girls and help victims and communities to heal from violence.
Angela Arrington, the social action coordinator for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., said that the task force could help address the persistent violence that Black women and girls face.
“They are more likely to experience homicide, sexual assault and other forms of violence than their white counterparts, and these cases often go unsolved or receive less attention,” Arrington said. “The epidemic of violence is a complex issue with deep-rooted historical and systemic causes requiring comprehensive and coordinated action to address.”
Attorney General Josh Kaul said lawmakers are needed to establish a task force and that a state investment must be included.
Kaul and Gov. Tony Evers included creating a task force in their budget proposals, but the Republican-led Joint Finance Committee did not include it in the final proposal.
“People are ready to step up,” Kaul said. “The problem now is not whether there is interest among folks in collaborating and working to identify solutions. What we need is legislative will. We need the legislators and the Senate and the Assembly to pass legislation that will help ensure we have this task force… It’s clear that there is a need not just for action, but for there to be an investment so that we can seriously consider these issues.”
He alluded to the new budget approved earlier this month that was celebrated as a bipartisan compromise by legislative leaders and Gov. Tony Evers.
“The Legislature was so close to passing legislation that would help us move forward on this issue, but we’ve seen there’s an opportunity for some compromise in this legislative session,” Kaul said.
The bill includes one position supported with state funding of $80,200 in 2025-26 and $99,500 in 2026-27.
Kaul said the additional Department of Justice employee would be essential to coordinate the work of the task force, including gathering data that may be needed.
A similar task force focused on Indigenous women and girls was formed in 2020 by Kaul after legislation failed. Kaul started that task force without state funding by using federal funding from the Violence Against Women Act. He said at the press conference that the agency doesn’t have funding for a similar pathway for the proposed new task force.
The 2023 version of the bill did not include funding when it passed the Assembly.
“This is a really significant issue that takes the investment of time and resources, and I don’t want to see a group come together without having the resources they need to be successful,” Kaul told reporters. “I want to see this done properly and right and that’s what this bill would do.”
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Photo by Gregory Conniff for Wisconsin Examiner
Brooke Rollins believes she is waging a new American Revolution, leading a crusade against Biblical darkness and guiding U.S. agriculture into a “golden age.”
In her first six months as the nation’s top agriculture official, Rollins has reshaped the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s focus — “more farmer, less climate,” she summarized. Her leadership will make farmers more prosperous than ever before, she proclaimed.
“This is making America and American agriculture great again,” she told Congress.
But her management has left many within USDA unmoored and frightened. Mass firings have purged scientists, whose discoveries underpin modern agriculture, from seeds to soil management. Indiscriminate terminations will likely deter younger, qualified candidates from joining the effort to address agriculture’s pressing challenges, such as adapting to climate change and containing animal diseases like bird flu.
Rollins-approved funding freezes and cancellations have squeezed small farmers and risked their trust. Rural communities could be kneecapped: Rollins has proposed cutting resources for broadband initiatives and Rural Development, the agency that invests in farmers’ communities.
The divestment of staff, science and sustainability programs at USDA isn’t just a budget cut; it could be a direct threat to the nation’s food system. Experts warn of far-reaching consequences: unsafe food for consumers, more invasive and economically damaging pests for farmers, and an agriculture industry forced to adapt to climate change with less scientific insight.
“We might see more farming in the dark, essentially,” said Michal Happ, a climate change and rural community expert at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
Investigate Midwest spoke with multiple agricultural experts and more than 30 current and former USDA employees to better understand Rollins’ leadership style, her impact on the department and the profound consequences her administration will have for farmers, rural families and consumers.
What emerged was a picture of a leader who has brought sweeping changes and largely embraced President Trump’s agenda of downsizing the federal government. However, Rollins has also been tasked with managing Trump policies that she has privately rebuked and cuts made before she assumed office.
Trump tapped Rollins to head the massive federal department at a crucial time for American agriculture. Farmers are grappling with changing weather patterns, shifting trade policies, and even internal administration critiques of pesticide use — a report from Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” commission, which Rollins applauded, slammed farms’ pesticide reliance.
Trump has praised Rollins’ performance. In mid-April, as an aside during a press conference, Trump thanked her for lowering egg prices. “Brooke Rollins, secretary of agriculture, did a great job,” he said. During his first term, she maneuvered into his inner circle and, as Politico reported, has quickly become “one of the most powerful conservatives in the country.”
Rollins has said her mission is to be the voice of farmers in Trump’s cabinet. She appears to have pull with the president, but questions remain about her influence over decisions affecting the USDA and its staff.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, appeared to wield significant control over department operations, at least until recently. It influenced everything from policy language to which USDA offices remain open, according to court records and Rollins’ hearing testimony.
In a statement to Investigate Midwest, the USDA rejected any characterization that Rollins was not solely responsible for department actions.
“The claims you cite are absurd and without merit,” it said. “Secretary Rollins was appointed by President Trump to lead the Department and to insinuate that anyone other than the Constitutionally directed cabinet officer is making the decisions at USDA is unwarranted.”
She’s also been sandwiched between Trump’s signature policy, an extreme stance on immigration, and the reality of agriculture’s labor force.
“We might see more farming in the dark, essentially.”
Michal Happ, a climate change and rural community expert at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Because of immigration raids, some farms’ labor pools have been depleted, and, already, some fields have not been harvested. Farmers have pleaded for relief. In early June, Rollins pushed Trump to pause enforcement on farms, The New York Times reported. After the news broke, Rollins proclaimed she was in lockstep with Trump.
Raids on farms resumed days later, but Trump recently expressed support for giving farmers discretion over undocumented workers.
“Brooke Rollins brought it up, and she said, ‘So, we have a little problem. The farmers are losing a lot of people,’ and we figured it out, and we have some great stuff being written,” he said during a July 4 speech.
On July 8, Rollins said undocumented farmworkers would receive “no amnesty.”
Farming is inherently risky. Making a living depends on good weather and profitable markets. Farmers try to limit variables, but Rollins’ first months have added disorder into the food system, said Mike Lavender, a policy expert for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
“All of it is this theme of creating needless uncertainty and confusion amongst people who are trying to do the exact opposite in order to be successful in their livelihoods, support their families and ultimately support their communities,” he said.
The USDA did not directly answer questions about Rollins’ tenure, and, in a statement, it said she was cleaning up a mess left by her predecessor, Tom Vilsack.
“Secretary Rollins is working to reorient USDA to put Farmers First and be more effective and efficient at serving the American people,” the department said. “President Biden and Secretary Vilsack left USDA in complete disarray, including hiring thousands of employees with no sustainable way to pay them.”
In congressional hearings, Rollins said the USDA, which has lost more than 15,000 employees, has enough staff to fulfill its mission. Trump’s desire to make new deals with trading partners — which is causing confusion and financial anxiety for farmers — will create stability for agricultural producers, Rollins has said.
“I do believe, with every fiber of my being, that this era of unlimited or unprecedented prosperity for the ag community is just around the corner,” Rollins told Congress in June. “I’m just really, really sure of that.”
Rollins has painted the present as being “strikingly similar” to the time of the American Revolution, a period she often invokes in speeches. She has also cast her leadership in Biblical terms, citing Romans 13:12, saying she wears an “armor of light” in her current position.
“There is just a lot of darkness — not with this White House or my current boss, President Trump, or our cabinet, but the government in general,” Rollins told Decision Magazine, a religious publication, during an interview last month.
The USDA did not answer when asked if Rollins views rank-and-file employees as part of the “darkness.” But her management of employees varies drastically from her two predecessors, Vilsack and Sonny Perdue, Trump’s first agriculture secretary.
Perdue was a veterinarian and, as governor of Georgia, had led a large bureaucracy, experience that translated into running a complex federal department in a “thoughtful, analytical way,” said Kevin Shea, a USDA employee for 45 years under Republican and Democrat administrations.
“The first Trump administration at USDA was run very professionally,” Shea said. Now, however, “the USDA political leadership seems to be particularly scornful of its career workforce.”
For instance, very little information filters down to employees. Leadership has not effectively communicated what it wants, so it’s been a “gradual process of learning what is and is not OK,” said Ethan Roberts, president of AFGE Local 3247, a union representing government employees, and a nine-year USDA employee.
Agency staff used to plan months or years ahead, but that’s difficult now because they don’t know if they’ll still have jobs or if the office will exist, said one current employee who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Her two predecessors regularly sent department-wide emails that communicated their goals and priorities, current and former employees said. Rollins seems to have a different audience in mind.
“She just posts on X what she’s doing,” said Laura Dodson, the vice president of AFGE Local 3403 and a longtime USDA employee. X, the social media company owned by Musk, requires an account to view posts. “It just seems everything’s coming from DOGE and whatever the White House is saying about federal employees.”
The first Trump administration also instituted funding freezes and reduced staff, including relocating USDA offices out of Washington, D.C. One of the affected agencies was the Economic Research Service, which provides insights into markets the industry relies on.
In 2019, Dodson and her colleagues were called into a conference room. If their job description was called, they would remain where they had established their lives. The others, the vast majority, would be relocated to Kansas City, Missouri. Employees started crying.
Despite that episode from Trump’s first term, Dodson said, the tone of his second stint is markedly different as DOGE, overseen by Musk until May, has wantonly carved up federal agencies.
“They still maintained a veneer of respectability. They were trying to do this for the greater good,” she said about the USDA under Perdue. “Now, with people like Elon Musk, it’s clear this is not the pursuit of efficiency. It’s the pursuit of cruelty.”
Before Rollins was sworn in, DOGE and USDA’s new political appointees began slashing.
Budget officers received a flowchart instructing them to block any money from the Inflation Reduction Act or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, two major economic infusions during the Biden presidency, The New York Times reported. Judges have ruled the freezes illegal.
Officials, including new chief of staff Kailee Buller, submitted plans for mass firings to Musk’s quasi-governmental organization, court records show. DOGE thought it needed reworking. Then, on Feb. 13, Buller met with Noah Peters, a DOGE operative in the White House. Buller “shared her experiences terminating the employees ‘cause that process was underway at Agriculture,” Peters said.
Rollins took over that night, and, the next day, thousands received termination notices. When Congress pressed her on the mass firings, Rollins shifted responsibility. “That happened before I was sworn in,” she said.
While job cuts and funding freezes were pursued, there appeared to be little knowledge of the USDA’s work.
For instance, school nutrition researchers were told to flag any studies that included the word “class” — an attempt to discover funding for diversity, equity and inclusion, a Trump target, said one employee who asked for anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Another time, DOGE’s main liaison to the USDA, Gavin Kliger, requested that the word “tracking” be added to the list of words to flag in grants that could be terminated, according to an email included in a lawsuit.
“Tracking the exact carbon output of soybean yields does not provide a direct benefit to farmers,” he reasoned in an email to staff, “and we can reallocate that funding in a way that more directly benefits farmers.”
Kliger’s LinkedIn resume does not show any experience in agriculture. He graduated from the University of California-Berkeley in 2020 and has worked exclusively for tech and artificial intelligence companies. He has helped slash staff and funding at other agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
It’s unclear how he came to this understanding about carbon tracking.
Carbon is essential to soil health, producing higher yields. Knowing how much carbon is escaping their soil can help farmers adopt better soil management techniques. This not only helps farmers grow more efficiently but helps keep the plant from warming. Soy industry groups have expressed the importance of tracking carbon footprints.
Also, under a Biden-era rule, measuring carbon output helps put money directly in farmers’ pockets — they can sell their output on carbon offset markets.
Despite this misguided reasoning, Kliger appears to have had considerable influence at the USDA.
In the same email, he said he wanted to surpass DOGE’s goal of cutting $120 million in climate-focused grants by a certain date. “I spoke with the Secretary tonight who was supportive of these initiatives – working on getting a memo formalized for her signature in parallel,” he wrote.
Kliger did not respond to requests for comment to his USDA email address. The USDA did not respond when asked about the email or how much influence Kliger had.
“All decisions made at the USDA are at the direction of secretary Rollins to best fulfil (sic) president trumps (sic) agenda,” the department said.
Kliger appears to have moved on. The USDA said his access to the National Finance Center, which manages employee payroll, has been “deactivated due to lack of use. … We would refer you to” the Small Business Administration.
While voices with no agricultural experience have been elevated, those with expertise — USDA employees — have been pushed aside and silenced, current and former employees said.
One skirmish between DOGE and the USDA’s rank-and-file has involved the Trump administration’s return-to-office policies. Some Republican leaders and Musk have claimed that allowing employees to work remotely is a waste.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced remote work for staffers at the Farm Service Agency, which helps farmers access federal funding. As the year progressed, Perdue, the agriculture secretary at the time, considered calling workers back to the office.
However, an internal study found that employees had actually been more efficient, said Charles Dodson, a 30-year FSA veteran who retired late last year.
Despite that, Trump ordered remote workers back to offices when he retook the presidency. At the same time, DOGE began canceling leases of local offices around the country.
At a May hearing, members of Congress accused Rollins of being unaware that local FSA offices were being closed. Rollins did not deny the accusation. Then at a June hearing, she said the General Services Administration, a DOGE target, was behind the closures. (Some offices have since reopened.)
On the ground, the situation has caused confusion and consternation for USDA employees.
When one employee reported to a new office, they were told they weren’t on the list of transfers. How could they follow the order to report to an office if they weren’t allowed in? Another USDA employee, a researcher, was ordered to report to a Forest Service trailer in the woods. And another employee, according to NPR, was told to report to a shed where a boat was stored.
The USDA has also intimidated its workforce, current and former employees said.
According to Roberts, the department veteran and union representative, USDA scientists have been instructed to deflect questions from university researchers — their frequent collaborators — about the agency’s internal affairs.
“They’re being told to say those things for fear it looks like the USDA is silencing them,” he said, “which they are.”
Surveillance also has increased. While the government has used software to monitor employee emails for years, the Trump administration has altered it to detect emails sent to a personal or college account. As part of a leak investigation, one staffer was placed on administrative leave after emailing their personal account, even though it did not contain the leaked material officials were looking for.
The USDA did not respond to a question about the leak investigation.
Some employees have responded by doing only what is asked of them, not going above and beyond. Dodson, the retiree, recounted what a current staffer told him: “I’m afraid to do anything else. I just want to survive and not get fired.”
In May, after thousands had been forced to leave the USDA, Rollins reassured Congress the department had adequate staffing to perform its mission. For instance, she said, no one from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS — which includes veterinarians and staff battling invasive diseases and pests — had left.
They were “key, critical components,” she said.
The comment shocked APHIS employees. Two weeks earlier, several hundred employees who helped keep pests out of the U.S. accepted the administration’s deferred resignation offers, which would pay them to not work for months. (Some returned after the offers were rescinded.)
Overall, roughly 15% of APHIS’s 8,000 employees have departed following the administration’s attempts to cut headcount, according to DTN. That includes about 400 from the agency’s Plant Protection and Quarantine division, which keeps invasive species out of the U.S., and about 350 veterinarians, said Shea, the longtime USDA employee who was the agency’s leader under Presidents Obama, Trump and Biden.
The cuts will have a ripple effect, particularly during emergencies, he said. To respond, employees will be moved from their regular duties, leaving others to pick up the slack.
The lack of staff is a major obstacle, Shea said.
“There couldn’t be a worse time to lower our guard,” he said. “APHIS cannot do its job with that level of personnel. It simply cannot do it. I’ve never been more concerned about the agency’s ability to carry out its mission going forward.”
The USDA has implemented a hiring freeze, but in April it exempted APHIS. The agency has posted job listings online.
“Secretary Rollins will not compromise the critical work of the Department,” the USDA said. The exempted positions “carry out functions that are critical to the safety and security of the American people, our national forests, the inspection and safety of the Nation’s agriculture and food supply system.”
Another challenge Rollins has faced is trade, the lifeblood of U.S. agriculture.
When Trump returned to office, he generated chaos in the agricultural markets by starting a trade war and implementing higher tariffs. In response, Rollins has embarked on a global tour to establish new trade partners.
She has announced a few “Make Agriculture Great Again trade wins.” She recently proclaimed that Namibia, an African country, agreed to accept frozen poultry from the U.S. The Biden administration had opened the market after allaying the country’s concerns about bird flu. Also, she declared Costa Rica accepting U.S. dairy a win for Trump. An industry trade group said the “win has been several years in the making.”
Rollins has said repeatedly that the agricultural trade deficit — the U.S. imports more products from overseas than it exports — is bad for the country. The tariffs were intended to address the deficit, but the narrative hit a snag in early June.
Politico reported the USDA had delayed a regularly scheduled report because it showed Trump’s tariffs could exacerbate the trade deficit. Days later, Rollins defended the delay. “I want to be sure every piece of research we move out is the best, the best-cited, etc.,” she told Congress. (The hearing was about a week after news broke that the MAHA report, which Rollins supported, cited nonexistent studies.)
Perhaps the most pressing issue facing Rollins is helping the agriculture industry as it grapples with climate change, which is altering how farmers grow food and commodities. Rollins, however, has denied the planet is warming.
Her husband is an executive at an oil and gas company, and in a 2018 speech, she said “research of CO2 being a pollutant is just not valid,” according to Inside Climate News. More recently, she led the America First Policy Institute, which pushes Trump’s agenda. She employed another Trump loyalist, Carla Sands, who once said the idea of climate change is “Marxism to control humanity,” according to Politico.
In January, before Rollins was sworn in, USDA employees were directed to “unpublish any landing pages (on the USDA’s website) focused on climate change,” according to court records. Research involving climate change has also been effectively banned, current employees said. If studies include words such as “climate,” “clean energy,” “sustainable construction” or dozens of others, the research will not be funded.
Climate change is having profound effects on agriculture. For instance, the Corn Belt — considered the prime region for growing the valuable commodity used in everything from soft drinks to gasoline — is inching northward. In decades, instead of Iowa and Illinois, Minnesota and the Dakotas could be America’s breadbasket, researchers have predicted.
More recent research shows that, as the world keeps warming and farming gets harder, U.S. corn production could fall by 40% by century’s end.
If the USDA ignores climate issues, farmers could be struggling alone, said Happ, of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
“They want to adapt to what’s going on,” he said. “They want to still have their land there and steward it for the next generation or two. Without those resources, they’re going to just have to figure it out on their own.”
The USDA did not respond when asked about Rollins’ household’s financial stake in fossil fuels. At a congressional hearing, Rollins agreed with a representative who said sound policy follows sound science. The USDA did not respond when asked why the USDA was not following climate change science.
In March, Rollins cancelled more than $1 billion in funding that paid small farmers to supply fresh meat and produce to schools and food banks. Supporters of the initiatives — named the Local Food for Schools and Child Care and Local Food Purchasing Assistance programs — said they helped local economies and supplied nutritious meals to growing kids.
In a Fox News appearance, Rollins argued the funding was non-essential because it was a COVID-era program. The funding has helped farmers in most states, according to the USDA’s website.
Nullifying those programs undercut another initiative of the Trump administration, the MAHA push to castigate processed foods and promote healthy products, said Debbie Friedman, with the Food Insight Group, which studies food system infrastructure. At the press conference releasing the MAHA report, Rollins referred to herself as a “MAHA mom.”
“While the MAHA concept is terrific,” said Friedman, specifically referencing its stance on improving the food supply, “the action steps they’re taking are the exact opposite. It’s all talk.”
Rollins has also overseen a divestment in food safety research.
The USDA has forced out 98 of 167 food safety scientists at the Agricultural Research Service, a department arm that studies how to prevent deadly pathogens, such as E. coli or Salmonella, from entering the food supply.
Foodborne illnesses could become more prevalent because the work the scientists were doing will likely just end, said Roberts, the union representative who works for the Agricultural Research Service.
“Who knows what we’ve lost? What discoveries or products that were going to be invented that we’ll just never see?” Roberts said. “We’ll be stuck with the tools we have now.”
A robust food safety system, with research and vigilant monitoring, is necessary to help prevent foodborne illnesses, which not only can hospitalize consumers but also have long-lasting health consequences, said Barbara Kowalcyk, a longtime food safety researcher who is now at George Washington University. In a 2013 study, Kowalcyk and her colleagues showed foodborne infections could lead to, among other conditions, chronic kidney disease, arthritis and cognitive deficits.
An example of science and government oversight working in concert to save lives stems from a deadly outbreak in the 1990s, she said. After eating undercooked hamburgers at Jack in the Box, more than 700 people fell ill and four children died.
The scandal put the USDA’s food safety system under an intense microscope, and the department changed how it protected America’s meat supply. Instead of eyeing and smelling a carcass, the USDA began testing for pathogens, a monumental task to implement.
The original testing procedure was first developed in the 1960s and refined over the decades. Since the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service began using the system — named Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point — cases of foodborne illness from beef have declined dramatically.
“Lots of effort went into that,” Kowalcyk said. “We don’t see the same level of outbreaks in ground beef that we used to.”
Rollins plans on altering the USDA’s, and the country’s, future through her actions. Cutting funding to farmers, axing scientists, instilling fear in remaining employees — it’s about changing the country’s course.
“It isn’t just about the next four years,” she told Breitbart in May. “It’s about the next 250 years.”
But it could all backfire on farmers, rural communities and consumers, said Lavender, with the national sustainable agriculture coalition.
“The draining of expertise at USDA,” he said, “whether that’s scientific expertise or just expertise of people who have been there for a period of time and have built up knowledge — it will ultimately come home to roost.”
This article first appeared on Investigate Midwest and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To republish, go to the original and consult the Investigate Midwest republishing guidelines.
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