May, 30 2019, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Email:,info(at)fwwatch(dot)org,Seth Gladstone -,sgladstone@fwwatch.org
WASHINGTON
Yesterday, Senate Democrats led by Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue urging an end to trade mitigation policy purchases that benefit foreign-owned companies, saying that "it is counterproductive and contradictory for these companies to receive assistance paid for with U.S. taxpayer dollars intended to help American farmers struggling with this administration's trade policy." The letter comes on the heels of Food & Water Watch's demands for a Congressional inquiry into the USDA's relationship with JBS, a Brazilian-based meat corporation mired in multiple scandals that has received millions in contracts for purchasing meat as part of the agency's program to alleviate the impact of tariffs on U.S. agriculture. The former USDA Deputy Under Secretary for food safety, Alfred V. Almanza, is currently the Vice President for Global Food and Safety and Quality at JBS, a position he has held since August 2017.
In response, Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter released the following statement:
"We applaud this important letter by Senate Democrats. U.S. farmers are reeling from decades of policies that benefit big multinational corporations like JBS. But this isn't just another 'Get Big or Get Out' policy that we've seen unfolding over recent decades that benefits factory farms over family farms. This is a corporate money grab that the USDA, remarkably, continues to defend. The funds being dispersed for commodity purchases under the trade mitigation program may as well be called a Big Ag bailout.
"At the same time that tariff relief is going to foreign-owned corporations, our food growing regions are being battered by climate chaos in the form of extreme weather and flooding. The communities that feed us are struggling unlike ever before, yet Secretary Perdue continues to defend dispensing U.S. taxpayer dollars to Brazilian-based JBS. It's not a good look, especially since a former high-ranking USDA official is now at JBS overseeing a pilot program to deregulate meat inspections that he helped shape under his tenure in government.
"The U.S. Congress should immediately call for an investigation into USDA's dealings with JBS. The commodity purchase program is a good place to start. It must also look into the food safety ramifications of USDA's ultra-cozy relationship with the company. We call on Congressional agriculture committee chairs, Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN), to initiate a formal investigation immediately."
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
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The government spending bill passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday that aims to avert a government shutdown would effectively cut Washington, D.C.'s budget by almost $1.1 billion dollars, a move that city leaders warned would be devastating for city services, schools, and more.
"The proposed one billion [dollar] cut to D.C.'s budget is senseless, reckless, and would have devastating consequences for our nation’s capital," a spokeswoman for Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office said in a statement that was sent to multiple outlets.
The dilemma stems from the fact that Congress has the final word over D.C.'s budget.
The Republican spending bill is a continuing resolution and largely freezes federal spending at levels approved in the prior fiscal year, with $13 billion in cuts to non-military spending. Generally, Congress includes language in the continuing resolution that allows D.C. to spend its locally generated revenue at spending levels it has separately approved, but did not include that provision this time. In 2024, D.C. passed a 2025 budget of $21 billion, funded largely with local tax revenues.
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Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) released a statement Monday blasting the text of the bill.
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A memo from D.C. officials explains that reducing local spending by over $1 billion would force a 16% cut to all remaining funds that are not expended. A cut that large would result in layoffs of direct services workers and a reduction or elimination of direct services, per the memo.
The Washington Post reported that it's hard to predict exactly how the cuts will play out, but budget officials believe the reduction could cause $200 million in cuts to D.C. Public Schools and $166 million in cuts to charter schools.
D.C. Water, which distributes drinking water and provides regional wastewater treatment services, could see $51 million in cuts.
"The federal government saves no money from reducing D.C.'s locally funded expenditures," according to the memo from the District, which also noted that the cuts could cause D.C.'s bond rating to be downgraded.
"This is all completely pointless," wrote one observer on X. "There should not be a single vote in Congress in favor of these catastrophic cuts."
Another D.C. resident shared the Post's story and wrote the GOP is "attempting to casually cut the budget of a major city simply because they hate us and they can."
The spending bill now heads to the Senate. Democrats can try to block the measure, though that carries the risk of being blamed for a government shutdown, which would go into effect if no spending bill is passed by Friday.
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The Republican chair of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee abruptly ended a hearing Tuesday after a Texas lawmaker repeatedly misgendered a transgender U.S. congresswoman, sparking a heated response from one of their Democratic colleagues.
Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, introduced Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) as "Mr. McBride," prompting the first openly transgender woman elected to Congress to retort, "Thank you, Madame Chair" before beginning her remarks.
McBride was interrupted by Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.), the subcommittee's ranking member, who said, "Mr. Chairman, could you please repeat your introduction again?"
Texas Republican Keithself storms out of the meeting he's supposed to be running because a Democrat asked him to treat his colleague Sarah McBride with respect. These people would not last one day as a trans person.
[image or embed]
— Ari Drennen (@aridrennen.bsky.social) March 11, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Self, a 71-year old former Army colonel and county judge, replied that "we have set the standard on the floor of the House."
When pressed by Keating to explain that standard, Self doubled down on calling McBride "mister."
Keating shot back: "Mr. Chairman, you are out of order. Have you no decency? I mean, I've come to know you a little bit, but this is not decent. You will not continue [this hearing] with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way!"
Self then adjourned the hearing. He later explained on social media that "it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female," a reference to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on the first day back in office.
As journalist Erin Reed noted:
This is not the first time McBride has been treated this way by her colleagues. Just one month ago, Rep. McBride was referred to as the "gentleman from Delaware" on the House Floor by Republican Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.). Like Self, Miller also bragged about it afterwards, stating: "Today on the House floor, I refused to deny biological reality… President Trump restored biological truth in the federal government, and I refuse to perpetuate the lie that gender is open to our interpretation. It is not."
McBride has been a frequent target of Republican attacks, facing bathroom bans and dehumanizing rhetoric from her colleagues.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers and commentators cheered Self and misgendered McBride. Miller even deadnamed the congresswoman.
McBride responded to Tuesday's incident on the social media site X, writing: "No matter how I'm treated by some colleagues, nothing diminishes my awe and gratitude at getting to represent Delaware in Congress. It is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime. I simply want to serve and to try to make this world a better place."
The congresswoman has repeatedly stressed that she intends to "pick her battles" and eschew biting at Republicans' bait, while acknowledging that, as hurtful as it can be, bigoted attacks against her are a GOP ploy to distract attention from policies that harm working-class Americans.
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As the U.S. Department of Labor released its monthly consumer price index report on Wednesday, President Donald Trump's new tariffs for steel and aluminum imports took effect, highlighting his threat to the economy and working-class Americans.
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In a Wednesday statement about the CPI report, Groundwork Collaborative chief of policy and advocacy Alex Jacquez said that "while families are still struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their head, the administration's response is that they should raise their own chickens in their backyards."
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Food & Water Watch similarly responded to the new CPI data by calling out failures to crack down on corporate price gouging—as detailed in the group's report from last week titled, The Rotten Egg Oligarchy.
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