Agriculture

While former FTC commissioner Noah Phillips defends private equity from antitrust lawsuits, the media attacks current Chair Lina Khan for … doing her job.

The roughly 35,800 employees of the federal Forest Service, housed within the Department of Agriculture, are responsible for managing 193,000,000 acres of national forests. The mission of the Forest Service is to “sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.” Yet time and time again, the Forest Service has betrayed this mission in order to service the profit-driven ends of the timber industry, prioritizing commercial timber extraction over recreation and conservation, and ignoring the essential role intact forests play in mitigating our ongoing biodiversity and climate crises. 

Many executive branch departments and agencies — including FEMA, USDA, and the VA — administer lesser-known federal housing programs.

With the right staff at the helm, USDA’s Rural Development Division could be the key to rebuilding rural America.

But the President must also hire the right people to administer SNAP and think bigger about strengthening the social safety net.

The administration’s staffing vacancies could undermine Biden’s promise to help family farms fight Big Ag monopolies.