WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, pressed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins on proposed cuts in President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Preliminary Budget Request, which slashes critical investments that benefit New Mexico families to fund massive tax handouts for billionaires like Elon Musk.
Specifically, Heinrich questioned Secretary Rollins on DOGE targeting the Silver City Dispatch Center as the Iron Fire burns, USDA canceling contracts that help local farmers sell fresh produce to food banks and schools, and the status of programs that feed starving children around the world with American-grown food through the Food for Peace program.
On DOGE Targeting the Silver City Dispatch Center:
Heinrich began his questioning, “Secretary, the Iron Fire is currently burning in the Gila National Forest, and you and I have talked about the Silver City Dispatch Center, which is in charge of coordinating the response between air assets and front-line firefighters in the Southwest. It is still among the dispatch centers that DOGE is seeking to close. And in our conversations, you assured me that you would seek to keep this dispatch center open, that you would designate it mission critical. Talk to me about what you are doing to make good on that promise.”
Rollins responded, “Yeah, we have been in conversation with GSA on that, Senator, and certainly, as we have many hands working across the Trump Administration to deliver on our promise for a more effective and efficient government. We agree that this is important, and especially as wildfire season is heating up, ensuring that we are operationally ready at every turn in your state and in other states that are highly affected by that, so we remain focused on that, and if you hear something different, please call me.”
On Trump’s USDA Canceling Contracts that Help Local Farmers Sell Fresh Produce to Schools and Feed Students:
Heinrich began by highlighting that the local food purchasing assistance and local food for school programs are,“two of the best examples of using American-grown produce to produce healthier outcomes in our students. To me, that is making America healthy again. You’ve canceled both of those contracts, even though those contracts were signed and farmers had bought supplies for planting based on those contracts.
Heinrich continued by asking, “What would you say to both the producers and the schools who made financial decisions based on those commitments?”
Rollins responded, “The first thing I’ll say is, could you send me specific information on that? Because that would be really helpful. We’ve talked a lot in broad strokes, but if I can see the details in New Mexico, you still have a million and a half dollars of the last tranche left out of 6 million.”
Heinrich pressed Rollins, “The people I’m hearing from are literally the schools and the producers who were impacted, the growers.”
Rollins responded, “Yeah, I would love to get more details on that and what that looks like again, as a COVID-era program. The other side of this, and I want to make sure you’ve got plenty of time to ask your other questions. But the other side of this, as far as the local nutritious farms, et cetera. I mean, I think that’s a massive push. I think it’s important we remain prioritized on that. But again, the $400 million a day we spend at USDA on nutrition, just on nutrition, I believe sincerely, that we’ll be able to check a lot of those boxes without continuing a program that was supposed to end at the end of COVID and that, in fact, most states still have a lot of money left in the bank. They haven’t been able to spend it.”
On Trump Threatening the Food for Peace Program:
Heinrich asked: “My colleague from Kansas mentioned Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole. These programs have provided life-saving American-grown food to people around the world. I have literally met with mothers and children who relied on American food aid for their survival. So I appreciate that you’ve had initial discussions with Secretary Rubio about these programs, but what I saw two weeks ago with several of my Republican colleagues on the ground at a refugee camp were kids who were on fractional rations who didn’t have enough calories per day to thrive. So what are we doing to fill the gap between the historic commitment of those programs and whatever that, you know, replaces them in the meantime, when the impact is kids who are not getting enough to eat?”
Rollins responded: “And you’re talking specifically on the International Programs, yes, that, that’s, that’s a great conversation. We continue to talk about it. The President has been very clear that we have to ensure that our kids here in America that are hungry, that we’re serving, obviously, they are the priority. It doesn’t mean that we don’t care about or want to move out American farmers’ produce, and we should in commodities across the world, but really focusing here in America first, but secondly, understanding how effective these programs are, which I talked a little bit about with the back and forth with Senator Baldwin. I think it may have been Senator Murray, but how important and effective those are, where we’re spending the money, how it’s being spent, and what that looks like.”
Heinrich pushed Rollins, “You’ll get a lot of support from this Committee to, to go after overhead, excess overhead, I think we have to check too many boxes, and there are a lot of entities that have gotten good at running those contracts because they can check those boxes. But what we saw on the ground was kids who had malaria and other diseases because they simply didn’t have enough food to eat, because commitments we made were not being made good on.”
Rollins responded: “Well, I would love more details on that that would help me understand and in fact, where it was y’all went, and then my commitment to you is to study that, and in my, you know, my heart is with what you’re saying. But again, we are putting American first, understanding how we’re feeding our children. And we haven’t had a MAHA discussion yet, but if we do, we can talk a little bit more about that is important. But also understanding that, again, the mission and the intention of these programs are always good. It is how we are effectuating them and putting them into play and really looking at that closely.”
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