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On May 18, the House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee passed a Fiscal Year 2024 spending bill for USDA and FDA by a party-line voice vote. The bill includes major cuts to USDA, including “clawing back $500 million in unspent pandemic aid, rescinding $5.75 billion provided by the Inflation Reduction Act for clean energy and farm loan relief, and restricting Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s ability to use the Commodity Credit Corp. account,” reports Agri-Pulse.
House Democrats and anti-hunger advocates have criticized the $17.2 billion spending bill, which is $11.7 billion below what President Joe Biden requested for USDA for FY24, for its cuts to WIC and other programs. In a statement issued Wednesday evening, USDA Secretary Vilsack said, “Today, House Republicans proposed stark cuts to USDA’s programs, and in some cases whole offices, in a way they know would only harm America’s economy and communities.”
While USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) funding would increase from $1.2 million to $1.75 billion, funding for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) would be cut by $9.5 million to $1.69 billion. Additionally, while funding for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) would be cut by $2.1 million to $1.169 billion, the bill would increase funding to $225 million to fight specialty crop pests.
SOURCE: NPC
