As Screwworm Disaster Widens, Trump USDA Denounced for Firing, Relocating Career Agency Staffers
Trump administration officials "did not act quickly on recommendations of career USDA staffers who sought to convey the seriousness" of a screwworm outbreak, according to a Wednesday report in Politico.
As the screwworm parasite spreads beyond initial contamination zones in Texas and New Mexico, some former US Department of Agriculture employees are pointing fingers at the Trump administration for exacerbating the crisis.
In a Politico report published Wednesday, three former USDA officials said that the administration's federal spending reviews have significantly hindered government efforts to contain the screwworm outbreak.
"USDA reviews held up funding for the construction of one facility that is crucial to slowing the flesh-eating pests threat to the US cattle supply," Politico reported, adding that "a $100 million research initiative designed to create new tools to slow the screwworm's advance was also delayed."
Two of Politico's sources also said the Trump White House "did not act quickly on recommendations of career USDA staffers who sought to convey the seriousness of a potential outbreak."
Politico's Rachel Shin also broke news on Wednesday that the Trump administration is plowing ahead with plans to carry out what she described as a "sweeping reorganization" of USDA that "will move thousands of employees out of the DC region," while "making clear workers must relocate if ordered or forfeit their jobs."
This report drew an angry reaction from Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), who accused the administration of ignoring the serious threat the screwworm outbreak poses to American farmers' livelihoods.
"As screwworm continues to spread," Beyer wrote in a social media post, "Trump's USDA is prioritizing firing and relocating the public servants responsible for containing this outbreak instead of investing in the infrastructure needed to control it and prevent it from happening again."
Spending reviews and staff reorganizations aren't the only actions taken by the Trump administration that have hindered the screwworm outbreak response.
In the early days of the Trump administration, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) axed a screwworm-monitoring program that only cost an estimated $15 million per year to maintain.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) on Tuesday called DOGE’s slashing of the monitoring program an example of its "peak incompetence."
