Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) will introduce a invoice immediately that may require the USDA to launch frozen grant funds, whereas additionally prohibiting the company from terminating present contracts or closing native discipline places of work with out notifying Congress.
Referred to as the Honor Farmer Contracts Act of 2025, the invoice directs the USDA to right away “implement all agreements and contracts entered into” and to “quickly pay late quantities.” It additionally says the USDA “shall not cancel” any signed contracts with farmers or organizations supporting them except they’ve did not adjust to the phrases. Technically, the contracts are already legally binding paperwork, however the company has not been treating them as such.
“Farmers throughout the nation have been in limbo ever for the reason that USDA froze beforehand signed agreements and contracts, with many dealing with catastrophic penalties if these freezes proceed,” Senator Booker informed Civil Eats. “USDA’s refusal to pay what’s owed to farmers and the organizations that help them is theft, plain and easy.”
Booker, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, had beforehand ready comparable language to probably connect to a legislative bundle however in the end determined to introduce the standalone invoice. A couple of dozen different Senate Democrats, together with fellow Ag Committee members Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) and Peter Welch (D-Vermont), signed on as cosponsors. Consultant Gabe Vasquez (D-New Mexico) will introduce a companion invoice within the Home.
Since President Trump’s inauguration, funds for already-contracted tasks have been paused throughout a broad array of farmer programs. The USDA says it has been reviewing these packages and contracts to make sure they align with Trump’s directives. The company has additionally canceled individual grant contracts primarily based on their inclusion of variety and fairness language. Pauses and cancellations have precipitated serious financial distress on farms and gutted many nonprofit organizations that present coaching, market alternatives, and different help.
On the identical time, the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) has focused the USDA’s “boots on the bottom” by workplace closures and worker cuts, prompting considerations in regards to the availability of providers like mortgage administration and conservation and technical help for farmers.
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