Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Lawmakers Press USDA Secretary on ‘Illegal’ Freezing of Funding & Disaster Relief Grants

News

Lawmakers Press USDA Secretary on ‘Illegal’ Freezing of Funding & Disaster Relief Grants

A person walking through a cornfield in Wisconsin.

Getty Images, Per Breiehagen

WASHINGTON—Members of the House Appropriations Committee questioned USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins last Wednesday over the freezing of $20 billion in federal funds.

President Trump signed several executive orders at the beginning of his term, halting funds that require agriculture officials to review the budget to eliminate waste.


Rollins told Congress the freeze in funds reflected the president’s commitment to “prioritizing food safety, rooting out wasteful spending, restoring federalism by empowering the states to best serve their communities, and above all putting farmers and ranchers first in America.”

Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., and other Democrats were extremely critical of the freezes in funding.

“They're unacceptable, it's reckless, and as I said in my questioning, it's not saving the taxpayers money,” Underwood said. “It's not making America healthier, and more importantly, it's not supporting small family farmers.”

The freeze has impacted a variety of Agriculture Department initiatives, including disaster relief for farmers. William Dellacamera, a vegetable farmer, traveled from North Branford, Connecticut, to attend the hearing. He’s one of many farmers who have felt the sting of the funding freezes.

Last August, his vegetables were destroyed in a hailstorm. The department’s insurance only covered $200,000 of his $600,000 in losses. Dellacamera drove his tractor all the way down to Washington from Connecticut to meet with his congresswoman, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. In response, she created the Farm Recovery and Support Block Grant, which then-President Joe Biden signed into law on December 21, 2024. The grant was supposed to provide $220 million in federal aid to help small and medium-sized farmers recover from severe weather events in 2023 and 2024. The Trump administration froze this grant money, along with billions of dollars in other agriculture initiatives, before Dellacamera was able to receive funds.

“We're still waiting for the money,” Dellacamera said. “We're almost eight full months out, and I can't pay my bills. So that's why I came down here.”

When testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 6, Rollins said the department had reviewed most of the $20 billion in frozen funding.

“We're down to the final five billion out of, I believe, almost 20 billion of frozen funds,” said Rollins about the remainder of frozen funds still pending review.

When pressed by Rep. DeLauro on Wednesday about whether the disaster relief funding would be distributed to farmers, Rollins said it would begin to flow to farmers by the end of May.

Many representatives claimed in their questioning that the president’s freezing of funds, which were already authorized by Congress, was illegal.

“These are signed agreements, binding contracts between the federal government and farmers where the terms were agreed to, budgets were made, and in some cases, planning or construction even has already begun,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.

According to Dellacamera, many farmers who expected to receive federal funding were required to cover the cost of production up front and would later be audited and reimbursed by the government. Many who depend on federal funds have started work and spent their own money on projects already underway.

“So, you're leaving these farmers in limbo that already started a project that are banking on getting that money back before the growing season starts,” Dellacamera said. ”Now the growing season starts, they don't have the money. How do they afford to do anything?”

Dellacamera said the lack of funds has made this growing season more difficult. He has been forced to finance many purchases of equipment and supplies, such as fertilizer, which often costs more than paying up front.

“I would go out in February and get almost all the supplies I need and buy them and have them on hand at the farm to use,” Dellacamera said. “Now I'm pushed off to piecemeal them and bring them in as I need them. And instead of using my money to buy it, I have to buy it on credit from the company. So, now I have to pay more for that product.”

Dellacamera blames the inadequacies of the current reimbursement programs offered by the Department of Agriculture for why farmers have been so severely impacted by disaster weather events.

“There's programs in place that the USDA offers, but if they didn't make them such bulls– programs, I would be fine right now,” Dellacamera said. “The programs they offer are broken. They're no good.”

Dellacamera was only partially reimbursed for his losses through the Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) and through the Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency.

“You have to have more than a 50% loss [to be reimbursed],” Dellcamera said. “That triggers you to get paid on the 50% of loss… the best you can do is get a quarter of what your value of your crop really is [worth].”

According to Dellacamera, the freezing of funds comes at a time when farmers face heightened economic pressures.

“We have stuff coming at us from every direction now—the tariffs, inflation…payroll has killed us to start with, over the past couple years, and it's only getting worse.”

Dellacamera said the restructuring of the supply chain has also led to farmers losing out on profits.

“The farmers don't make the money,” Dellacamera said. “The middleman, the purveyor, does— the guy buying it from us and bringing it to the stores, and the guy selling it at the store at the final end.”

After the hearing, Rollins continued to defend the freezing of funds.

“I don't believe there were any mistakes,” Rollins told Medill News Service. “Of course, we're constantly evaluating and reassessing, and we will always do that.”

The top Democrat on the subcommittee, Sanford Bishop, D-Ala., criticized the freezing of grants but was optimistic about working with Secretary Rollins.

“I think that there may have been haste in the reviewing of some of the grants, and I think that she acknowledged that they will go back and look at them because they did obviously do it in a hurry, and some of them apparently were not done very thoroughly,” Bishop said. “But I think that she seems to be open, and I hope to have a dialogue and to interact and to work with the Secretary.”

While Dellacamera was hopeful that Rollins would be receptive to his concerns, in the past, he had felt largely abandoned by the federal government.

“The most noble profession, the backbone of America—American agriculture, is left to fail because our government has failed them,” Dellacamera said.

Khaleel Rahman is a student at Northwestern University.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that the hearing occurred "on Wednesday" and Rollins testified "on Tuesday" when these events happened on May 6 and May 7, a week before the story's publication.

Read More

An illustration of two people holding legal documents.
llustration by Olivia Abeyta for palabra

Proof of Citizenship, No Proof of Safety

Claudia, an immigrant from Chile who lives in suburban Maryland right outside Washington, D.C., watched closely as the Trump administration ramped up its mass deportation campaign during the spring (Claudia, not her real name, asked to be identified by a pseudonym because she is afraid of federal immigration agents).

She went online and watched countless videos of masked, heavily armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents breaking the car windows of immigrants to wrestle them out of their cars, and detaining people at their workplaces, like restaurants, car washes, and agricultural fields. Many of her friends told her about ICE sweeps in heavily Latino apartment complexes near her home.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lady Justice
On April 2, President Trump announced "Liberation Day"—the imposition of across-the-board tariffs on imports into the United States.
the_burtons/Getty Images

From Survivor To Advocate: A Latina Lawyer’s Call for Legal Reform

The American legal system prides itself on upholding justice. But behind its polished façade lies an uncomfortable truth: the law often protects abusers—particularly when they hold power within the system itself.

From Jeffrey Epstein’s elite legal defense to the many unresolved allegations of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump, we see how wealth and status create insulation from accountability. But what’s less visible is how this dynamic plays out within the legal profession, where lawyers, judges, and law professors abuse their power. The institutions tasked with accountability often remain silent.

Keep ReadingShow less
A "vote" sticker or pin going into a ballot box.

From Ohio to Texas, lawmakers are trying to close primaries after gerrymandering maps — locking millions out of meaningful elections. Learn why voters are fighting back and where reform is gaining momentum.

Getty Images, Juan Moyano

Texas and Ohio Push To Close Primaries: The New Gerrymandering Playbook To Lock Out Voters

Amid this year’s unprecedented redistricting wars, another troubling trend is taking shape. In the past week alone, Ohio legislators introduced a bill to close the state’s primaries, while the Texas Republican Party filed a lawsuit to do the same.

This is no accident. In fact, it’s part of a well-worn playbook that goes something like this: First, politicians redraw maps in their states (also known as redistricting or gerrymandering) to lock in safe seats and make general elections uncompetitive. Then, they move to close primaries so that only a narrow slice of voters—typically the most partisan—can meaningfully participate.

Keep ReadingShow less
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is a threat to American democracy
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

MAGA Supreme Court Justices Show Their True Colors by Joining Trump’s Attack on the Federal Judiciary

Writing in 1788, Alexander Hamilton famously described the judiciary as “the least dangerous branch” of the federal government. He thought that it would never be in a position to do serious damage to American life because it had neither “the sword nor the purse…but merely judgment.”

President Trump and his allies seem to disagree with Hamilton’s characterization of the courts. They see them as a dangerous impediment to his effort to make America great again.

Keep ReadingShow less