Navigating workforce cuts has been “an absolute disruption,” says Armando Rosario-Lebrón, vice president of the National Association of Agricultural Employees, representing workers in plant protection and quarantine programs.
“These ports were already nervous about how they handled their cargo, but now some of them are completely destroyed,” says Rosario LeBron. “If we don’t fix this, we can go back to pandemic-level issues for some products.”
The Department of Agriculture did not respond to a request for comment. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who was the vocal backer of Doge’s efforts, previously publicly supported the USDA dog training program, Agreed law It would give it permanent funding. Her office declined to comment on the cuts made to it.
Two federal judges and independent agencies assessing government official decisions have already been order USDA employees who were fired will recover. Earlier this week, the USDA said it had suspended its 45-day termination and “develops a phased plan for returns.” However, the affected staff remained in the dark about their future, showing that the Trump administration, along with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, will fight court decisions to revive employees phone One of the rulings is “absurd and unconstitutional.”
As these legal and regulatory fights continue to unfold, Hudicka expects many trickle-down effects, including local market wars over resources that big cities and large grocery chains are equipped with than mum and pop and rural communities. Hudicka said allowing shipping containers to be unchecked could have an impact on other sectors as well. “These containers should be moving things every day, but now they’re just parked somewhere,” he says.
Kit Johnson, director of trade compliance for US customs broker John S. James, also predicts prices and waste will increase. But what raises the most alarm for him is the increased chances of invasive species slipping through the inspection crack. He says the price of missing threatening pests is to “clean away the entire agricultural commodity.” This could have “not only economic but national security implications.”
Mistakes the Department of Agriculture could affect the US Customs and Border Protection Agency. It will deploy dogs trained by Copeland and other staff at the National Dog Detection Training Center. CBP works closely with USDA, especially in entry points and other ways. The two agencies implement agricultural quarantine testing programs, but are funded by the USDA. Many animal and plant health testing services programs rely on taxpayer dollars, but instead I will collect the fee From importers and players in other industries. In this way, we subsidize some of CBP’s agricultural-related activities. CBP did not respond to requests for comment.
As the fired USDA workers wait to hear if their recovery actually takes place, the port is beginning to feel their absence. “There aren’t many tests being done, and it’s not just putting us at risk,” says Lahar. “It puts our farmers and our food chains at risk.”
Updated 3/17/25 12:42 PM EST: The reference to “Squish Flu” in this story has been updated to “Pig Fever” to more accurately reflect the type of disease in which sick dogs are usually detected.
