Items Tagged with 'Food for Peace'

The House version of USDA’s budget would cut the department’s discretionary spending by $675 million, about 3% less than the current budget but still a much smaller cut than sought by the administration.

The Department of Agriculture is a “bloated Washington, D.C., bureaucracy,” the Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 budget request says, proposing to cut USDA spending by $4.9 billion, or 19%, from current funding levels and eliminate international food aid programs.

USDA’s undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, Luke Lindberg, says the department will hire additional staff to help administer foreign food aid.  USDA employs around 150 Foreign Agricultural Service officers posted abroad.

Luke Lindberg, USDA’s undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, is a leading contender to become executive director of the UN World Food Program, the world’s largest aid organization, sources tell Agri-Pulse.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., tells Agri-Pulse he’s ready to act swiftly if the Trump administration wants Congress to permanently move Food for Peace to the Agriculture Department.

The Agriculture Department, which has temporarily taken over management of the Food for Peace program, is partnering with the World Food Program to distribute more than 200,000 tons of international food aid, with purchases of U.S. commodities anticipated by March, according to documents seen by Agri-Pulse.

The Trump administration has brought control of the Food for Peace assistance program under the Agriculture Department’s purview, allowing the department to begin making awards, according to people familiar with the situation. 

About 70% of Trump voters support U.S. international assistance, with three-quarters endorsing the Food for Peace program, according to a survey commissioned by The Campaign for America First International Assistance.

A fiscal 2026 agreement for funding USDA and FDA rejects White House proposals to gut conservation technical assistance and international food aid programs and includes a provision to block the unregulated sale of some hemp-based or hemp-derived products. The deal also requires a study on moving the Food for Peace program to USDA.

Agriculture groups have been on Capitol Hill this week to broaden support for legislation that would shift control of the Food for Peace program to USDA.