August 25, 2025 – Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, sent a letter to Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden Monday asking him to give agricultural groups and employees more time to comment on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) plan to dramatically reorganize the agency. She also asked him to share those comments with the public.
The letter was signed by several other Democrats on the committee and by Chuck Schumer (D-New York), the Senate minority leader.
Earlier this month, representatives on two different House committees demanded more details on the reorganization from the USDA. But the senators’ requests are unique in that they zero in on the short period of time offered for engagement and the lack of transparency around what farmers, conservation groups, and federal employees have said about the plan so far.
“We request that USDA provide at least 60 days for feedback on the proposal after the major initial elements of the proposal have been set,” the senators wrote, “and that USDA publish any full, updated proposal on its website along with a more detailed comment and feedback system that allows USDA customers, employees, and agricultural groups to provide meaningful feedback.”
While federal agencies typically post public comments alongside their proposals in the federal register, in this case the USDA provided an email address for feedback and has not shared the comments they have received. That means the public knows little of the plan’s potential impacts.
For example, last Thursday, a group of unions that represent employees working across several USDA departments emailed their comments. They asked for the agency to share details on the rationale it used to choose five new regional “hubs” and how it plans to retain workers amid the relocations. A USDA employee and union member who asked to remain anonymous shared the document with Civil Eats.
“The employees who carry out USDA’s mission deserve respect, transparency, and a voice in where and how they work. So do the communities and stakeholders who will bear the consequences of this sweeping change,” the union members wrote in their comments. “We strongly urge the Department to slow down, engage with Congress and the labor unions in good faith, and fully assess the true impacts of this reorganization before proceeding further.”
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) has also been asking farmers to weigh in on the plan via the public comment process. The organization provided them with a form, but the public has no way of seeing how many farmers are filling it out in support or how they might have personalized their comments.
In response to specific questions about whether the agency would consider extending the deadline, whether it planned to share comments with the public, and why the process had not been set up in the typical fashion, a USDA spokesperson emailed Civil Eats a statement.
“The recent USDA announcement was a first step,” the statement said. “Some aspects of the reorganization will be implemented over the coming months while other aspects will take more time to implement. As the reorganization progresses, employees and other relevant parties will be updated accordingly.” The statement recommended comments be made to reorganization@usda.gov, with a deadline at the end of August. (Link to this post.)
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