Media Contact:
Jordan Baker
jbaker@frac.org
202-640-1118
Statement attributable to Crystal FitzSimons, president, Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
WASHINGTON, August 26, 2025 — FRAC strongly opposes the Trump administration’s proposal to reorganize the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). We are deeply concerned that this proposed reorganization — which was developed without the input of Congress or relevant stakeholders — is more than a relocation or consolidation but rather the dismantling of a department with critical responsibilities. Combined with recent staffing cuts and funding freezes at USDA, this shift will have a long-lasting, negative impact on the agency’s ability to administer the federal food and nutrition programs in an effective and timely manner, resulting in real consequences for the millions of children, parents, older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, and everyone else who depends on these programs to be food secure.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers the federal food and nutrition programs, which help ensure that people with low incomes can access the food they need for their health and well-being. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps over 42 million participants put food on the table. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides pregnant and postpartum individuals, infants, and young children with nutritious foods, nutrition education, and improved access to health care and services. School meals are vital tools for combating childhood hunger and fueling students’ health and learning. The Summer Nutrition Programs, known as summer meals, play an important role in reducing childhood hunger during the summer. The more recent and permanent Summer EBT Program, a complement to summer meals, provides families with about $120 per child in federally funded grocery benefits during the summer months for children eligible for free and reduced-price school meals during the school year. Afterschool Nutrition Programs help reduce hunger and support high-quality enrichment programs by providing healthy meals and snacks to children to ensure they are fed after school, on weekends, and during school holidays. The commodity assistance programs, including The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), ensure that healthy commodities reach individuals and families in need.
These programs have a wide reach across the lifespan and require a deeply experienced, well-staffed agency to function. A reorganization will make it more difficult for the schools, child care sponsors, centers, and homes, nonprofits, and government agencies who operate the programs and impact the over 250,000 SNAP retailers who rely on SNAP revenue to stay open, pay staff, and keep shelves stocked.
The proposed reorganization, which would include relocating staff, consolidating regional offices, and the additional loss of institutional expertise, risks throwing the administration of these programs into complete chaos and causing confusion among program participants.
Moving offices and consolidating regions will only delay the approval of state waivers that help mitigate hunger, policy updates, and program operations. This would also disrupt technical assistance and increase the burden on remaining offices, jeopardizing access to benefits for participants and straining the ability of states to meet federal performance standards.
We have seen the consequence of this type of proposal. When USDA announced the relocation of most staff at two of its research agencies from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City in 2019, it led to a disruption in critical work, decreased productivity, gutted diversity, and the exodus of staff with decades of experience. Now imagine that same scenario but on a much larger scale.
We urge USDA to heed our warnings and immediately pause the implementation of this reorganization and facilitate a more fair and transparent process that includes consultation with Congress, state agencies, national and local partners, and impacted USDA staff.
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The Food Research & Action Center improves the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing bold and equitable policy solutions. To learn more, visit FRAC.org and follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.