Agriculture Brooke Rollins on Friday praised President Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget for discretionary programs that cuts many USDA programs. 

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn.,  the ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, and a candidate for the Democratic nomination to succeed Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., slammed Trump’s proposal.

Rollins said, “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to save our country from fiscal ruin. President Trump’s budget will put us on the path to reducing our deficit and lowering the national debt. We have to act now.”

“Lower federal spending combined with the largest tax cuts in the history of our country, strong deregulatory actions, and tariff and trade realignment will set the stage for the next generation of American greatness,” Rollins said.

“At USDA we have already started by eliminating wasteful spending, reprioritizing our services to put farmers first, and cutting red tape.”

Rollins did not mention Trump’s specific additions and cuts at USDA, but will testify on Wednesday before the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. 

The budget proposal would increase funding for the Food Safety and Inspection Service and rental assistance and would assure that historically black colleges and universities will be “amply funded,” but would cut many agricultural research programs, conservation and forestry programs and eliminate the McGovern-Dole program to fund school meals programs overseas. 

The budget would also cut the salaries budget for the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Risk Management Agency, which were placed under one budget area in Trump’s first administration.

“The staff-heavy FSA struggles with hiring due in part because of labor market competition. Staff shortages have left leased premises underutilized, resulting in waste,” the budget says. 

The budget would also eliminate the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which it says has provided food banks with “shelf-stable foods that are high in sodium and other harmful ingredients,” replacing it with food boxes that “would be filled with commodities sourced from domestic farmers and given directly to American households.”

The budget document says these boxes would be in line with the Make America Healthy Again initiative promoted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

Craig said Trump’s proposed cuts totaled about $5 billion. 

“The president’s budget proposal is out of touch and ignores the needs of America’s farmers, ranchers, foresters and rural communities,” Craig said in a news release.

“At a time when farmers are reeling from trade wars, funding freezes and mass layoffs at USDA, gutting technical assistance at the Farm Service Agency will make it impossible for farmers to access the resources they need to do their jobs.

‘The president’s budget also poses real danger to our communities by slashing funding for programs that assist local and state partners with wildfire prevention. A budget is a values document, and this budget does not value farm country,” Craig said.

Craig detailed her objections in a news release.