WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced during a congressional hearing Tuesday the department will soon detail which staff positions it plans to move away from the nation’s capital and where in the country those jobs will be relocated.
“We have to move,” Rollins said. “This is a customer service oriented agency. And why do we have so many people in Washington, D.C.? And then you bring the forest part into that and then the nutrition into that and it just doesn’t make as much sense.”
Rollins’ comments about restructuring the 100,000-employee department came in the middle of a Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.
Republicans and Democrats on the panel used the opportunity to question Rollins about USDA freezing billions in funding approved by Congress, some of which has yet to be released.
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, chairwoman of the full Appropriations Committee, said she’s heard from several “constituents who have received grant award letters from USDA in the previous administration, only to receive letters from USDA informing them that their grant funding is frozen.”
Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., urged Rollins to “ensure that funding goes to the small farms” and that it be released quickly.
Rollins testified USDA originally froze about $20 billion in federal funds and is still reviewing $5 billion to decide if the department should spend the money as planned.
“Some of the funding that we have pulled back and then reopened, we’ve asked for re-applications to realign around this president’s priorities, which, of course, not surprisingly, is not diversity, equity and inclusion, or some climate programs. But instead to reapply where the farmer or rancher would receive 65% of the funding or more,” she said.
“That’s another piece of this as well,” Rollins added. “So we again, are going line by line. We’re working around the clock. And believe me, we are on it.”
Local food programs funding
Several Democratic senators on the panel — including Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin, New Mexico’s Martin Heinrich and Georgia’s Jon Ossoff — pressed Rollins to restore funding for the local food purchasing assistance and local food for schools programs.
“They may be COVID programs, but they’re two of the best examples of using American-grown produce to produce healthier outcomes in our students. To me, that is Making America Healthy Again,” Heinrich said, referencing an often-used Trump administration slogan. “You canceled both of those contracts, even though those contracts were signed and farmers had bought supplies for planting based on those contracts. So what would you say to both the producers and the schools who made financial decisions based on those commitments?”
Rollins said the two programs were “never meant to last forever” and that nearly every state has asked USDA for contract extensions, since they haven’t been able to spend all of the money the federal government sent them.
“Do you know USDA spends $400 million a day on nutrition and food programs? Just USDA. That’s aside from this food bank,” Rollins said. “There is plenty of money in the system. We just have to be better about how we’re spending it. So I hear you, but I think that it’s important to look at where this money is sitting, how it is being spent, and making sure that we’re using the taxpayer dollars effectively.”
The Trump administration’s budget request, released Friday, asks Congress to cut Agriculture Department discretionary funding by $5 billion, or 18.3%.
The proposal suggests lawmakers bolster funding for the Food Safety Inspection Service by $15 billion and for rental assistance grants by $74 billion, though it requests funding cuts on about a dozen programs.
The Agricultural Research Service, rural development programs, Farm Service Agency and National Forest System Management would all see funding cuts if Congress goes along with the budget request.
Rollins said during the hearing the proposed Agricultural Research Service funding cuts, if approved by lawmakers, would decrease that account from $2.1 billion to $1.9 billion.
“So while it is a cut, it’s not a massive cut, it’s a 7% cut. And it’s very much focused on outdated facilities,” Rollins said. “So as we continue the high priority and the focus on the important research, I believe that none of that will be compromised.”
Coming home to Kansas
Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran asked Rollins about proposed funding cuts to the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, saying the programs are important to his home state.
“It was particularly troublesome when those on probation were eliminated,” Moran said, referring to mass firings of new and newly promoted federal workers. “We love the circumstance when a young man or woman out of college returns home, goes to work for USDA in a county office. We do not have sufficient personnel in those county offices today. But we particularly love when they are somebody who’s in their 20s, they come home and they raise a family in a small county of Kansas.”
Rollins responded that FSA is of “paramount importance.”
Congress will debate the dozen annual appropriations bills, including the Agriculture spending measure, in the months ahead.
Lawmakers are supposed to negotiate agreement on all of the government funding bills before the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1. But they will likely use a stopgap spending bill to give themselves until mid-December to work out bipartisan, bicameral agreements.
Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
This article presents USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins’ testimony on budget and staffing changes with a focus on restructuring and proposed funding cuts, which align with typical conservative priorities favoring government efficiency and fiscal conservatism. It highlights Republican concerns about federal spending and the emphasis on directing funds mostly to farmers and ranchers, while also acknowledging Democratic questions and priorities around program funding and equity. The language remains largely neutral and fact-based, but the emphasis on budget cuts and reallocation consistent with the Trump administration’s priorities suggests a center-right leaning.
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration invoked the state secrets privilege to withhold information on its efforts to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia was deported due to an administrative error, but the government has yet to comply with court orders to bring him back. The administration claims national security concerns, while legal representatives argue that the process has been mishandled. Protestors, including Rep. Glenn Ivey, gathered outside the court calling for his return. The Supreme Court had previously directed the U.S. to facilitate his return.
GREENBELT, MARYLAND — A federal judge said Friday the Trump administration has “pretty broadly” invoked the state secrets privilege to withhold information on its efforts — or, the judge indicated, a possible lack of effort — to return a wrongly deported Maryland man from a prison in El Salvador.
President Donald Trump’s administration moved last month to invoke the so-called state secrets privilege to shield information about its process to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States after a top immigration official admitted his removal to a prison in El Salvador was an “administrative error.”
The judge handling the case, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, granted an expedited discovery process after she found last month that “nothing has been done” by the administration to return Abrego Garcia.
She did not make a public order regarding the state secrets privilege Friday afternoon before closing her courtroom to the public to discuss sensitive matters with attorneys for Abrego Garcia and the Department of Justice.
The state secrets privilege is a common-law doctrine that protects sensitive national security information from being released. The Trump administration has argued the need to invoke it in this case to protect diplomatic relationships.
‘He’ll never walk free in the United States’
During the public portion of Friday’s hearing, Xinis pressed the Department of Justice attorneys about Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s comment that Abrego Garcia “will not return” to the U.S.
“That sounds to me like an admission that your client will not take steps to facilitate the return,” Xinis said. “That’s about as clear as it can get.”
DOJ attorney Jonathan D. Guynn disagreed and said the Trump administration is complying with court orders. He said Noem’s comment meant that if Abrego Garcia was back in U.S. custody he would be removed either to another third country or back to El Salvador.
“He’ll never walk free in the United States,” Guynn said.
He added that the Trump administration is “currently complying and we plan to comply.”
Xinis said she disagreed, and then she clashed with Guynn over the legality of Abrego Garcia’s removal.
Guynn said that he was lawfully deported.
Xinis answered that she found months ago that Abrego Garcia was unlawfully detained and removed from the U.S.
Few documents produced
One of the attorneys for Abrego Garcia, Andrew J. Rossman, said the Trump administration has invoked the state secrets privilege for 1,140 documents relating to the case. From that request, Rossman said his team received 168 documents, but 132 were copies of court filings and requests made by him and his team.
Xinis seemed visibly stunned by Rossman’s report and had to clarify that his team had only received 36 new documents, which Rossman confirmed.
Rossman said that none of the documents for which the government is invoking the state secrets privilege are classified.
“There’s ways to do this right, and they haven’t done it,” he said, noting that he has attorneys on his team who have security clearances and can review classified and sensitive information.
Rossman said that he and his team are seeking answers to three questions: the status of Abrego Garcia, what steps the Trump administration has taken, if any, to facilitate his return, and the steps the federal government will take, if any, to comply with court orders.
Guynn said the Trump administration received an update from El Salvador on Thursday that Abrego Garcia was in “good health” and had “even gained weight.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia.
Rossman, said that it’s “deeply disturbing” that administration officials, including the president, have made public statements that contradict court orders directing the government to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
President Donald Trump has said he could easily pick up the phone and order El Salvador to return him but won’t because he believes Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.
Noem was pressed at a May 14 congressional hearing about a photo that appears altered to add letters across Abrego Garcia’s knuckles to indicate his inclusion in the gang. She said she was unaware of it.
A federal judge in the District of Columbia, in a separate case regarding Trump’s use of an archaic wartime law for deportations, questioned Department of Justice attorneys on the president’s claim that he could order Abrego Garcia to be returned. The attorney admitted that the president sometimes overstates his influence abroad.
El Salvador prison
Abrego Garcia has had protections from deportation since 2019, but he was one of nearly 300 men on three mid-March removal flights to a notorious prison in El Salvador known as CECOT.
Abrego Garcia has been moved to a lower security prison, according to Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who traveled to the country last month to meet with Abrego Garcia and inquire with Salvadoran officials about why he is being held there.
Those officials said Abrego Garcia was being held because of the agreement between the United States and El Salvador.
The U.S. has a $15 million agreement with El Salvador’s government to house immigrants removed from the U.S., mostly Venezuelans removed under the wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Dozens of signs outside the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in support of Abrego Garcia before Friday’s hearing. (Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)
The Trump administration has argued that Abrego Garcia is a national of El Salvador and in that country’s custody and the U.S. cannot force another government to return him.
Hours before Friday’s hearing, dozens of protestors gathered outside the court, calling for Abrego Garcia to be returned to the U.S., as well as criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey, who represents the area in Maryland where Abrego Garcia and his family live, appeared outside the court and led chants calling for the release of Abrego Garcia from El Salvador.
“The president has to obey the orders of the Supreme Court,” Ivey said. “The Supreme Court has spoken here, and it’s time for him to follow it and bring him home.”
Last updated 5:20 p.m., May. 16, 2025
Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This content primarily critiques actions taken during the Trump administration, particularly around immigration enforcement and the use of state secrets privilege, emphasizing concerns of administrative error and disregard of court orders. It highlights the perspectives of Democratic officials and legal challenges, portraying the administration in a negative light. The focus on immigrant rights, judicial oversight, and criticism of a Republican administration’s immigration policy aligns with a center-left viewpoint without featuring extreme partisan language or ideological framing.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-16 13:42:00
A Georgia House study committee will revisit the issue of legalizing gaming, following strong public support in a May 2024 primary ballot where over 81% voted “yes” on a referendum to allow voters to decide. Rep. Marcus Wiedower introduced a bill for legalized sports betting in 2026, but it faced opposition and didn’t pass. Critics, including the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, warned of negative societal impacts like addiction and bankruptcy. The new committee, chaired by Wiedower, will evaluate the economic benefits and potential societal harms of legalizing gaming in Georgia .
(The Center Square) — A Georgia House study committee will take another look at legalizing gaming.
Lawmakers have batted around the idea for several years. Republicans asked on the May 2024 primary ballot if voters would support a referendum letting the voters decide whether or not to legalize gaming and more than 81% said “yes.”
Rep. Marcus Wiedower, R-Watkinsville, introduced a measure during this year’s session of the General Assembly that would have put legalized sports betting before voters in November 2026 but it never made it off the House floor. The bill would not have approved casinos or other brick-and-mortar gambling.
The resolution had steep opposition, including the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and the Georgia Faith and Freedom Coalition.
“Study after study shows the numerous problematic outcomes of this–reduced on the job productivity, bankruptcy, divorce, suicide attempts, you know the list,” Mack Parnell, executive director of the Georgia Faith and Freedom Coalition, told the House Higher Education Committee during the session. “In the legislation, there’s mitigation efforts, which leads me to wonder that if in the legislation where you are legalizing something, you to have mitigation efforts, why would you be endorsing that.”
Sports betting is legal in 39 states and the District of Columbia, according to the American Gaming Association. Tennessee and Florida allow sports betting.
Wiedower will chair the study committee that will explore how gaming would contribute to the economy and workforce when weighed “against what social and societal ills may come to Georgia if gaming is approved by the citizens of this state,” according to House Speaker Jon Burns.
The committee on gaming is one of 16 study committees approved by Burns. Rep. Tim Fleming, R-Covington, will chair the Blue Ribbon Committee on Election Procedure which will study Georgia’s election laws and boards. The Peach State has been at the center of election controversy since the 2020 election which former President Joe Biden won in Georgia.
Biden’s Georgia win was one of the key arguments used by President Donald Trump and his supporters to claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Trump and several others are facing charges in Fulton County over allegations they tried to interfere with the election.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article presents a factual overview of the ongoing discussion in Georgia regarding the legalization of gaming, including legislative efforts, public opinion polling, and viewpoints from both supporters and opponents. It reports on the positions of different stakeholders—such as Republican lawmakers advocating for a referendum, religious groups opposing it, and statistics about sports betting legality—without using emotionally charged language or explicitly endorsing any side. The mention of election controversies and legal challenges related to the 2020 presidential election is presented as background information pertinent to the broader political context, again without editorializing. Overall, the tone and content aim at neutral, informational reporting rather than promoting a particular political ideology or agenda.
www.wsav.com – Sarah Fortinsky – 2025-05-16 07:22:00
SUMMARY: The FBI warned of a malicious campaign targeting government officials and their contacts using AI-generated voice and text messages impersonating senior U.S. officials to access personal data. Beginning in April 2025, attackers establish trust, then send links disguised as messaging platform transitions to gain access. Targets include current and former federal or state officials. The FBI cautioned that compromised accounts could be used to exploit other contacts for information or funds. To identify fakes, verify sender identities independently, scrutinize URLs and messages for errors, and carefully assess voice tones. The FBI urged reporting suspicions to security officials or themselves.
