Rep.
He joins other Democrats in questioning the USDA’s capability to control new cases amid the agency’s reorganization and staffing cuts. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins this week sought to reassure senators that the recent screwworm infections are being carefully handled and not a threat to the country’s food supply.
“I am not reassured at all by her words when she came before the House Ag Committee,” McGovern said during a Bloomberg Government roundtable on Thursday. Farmers in his district are angry. “They’re pissed off. I mean, they’re furious,” he said. “They don’t think that her Department of Agriculture cares about small and medium-sized farms.”
The latest cases raised concerns that the screwworm could be spreading to other animals or humans. The pest has reemerged in the US in recent weeks after having been eradicated in early 2017, according to the USDA. It can spread quickly and kill livestock in a matter of days.
McGovern said he doesn’t trust the agency to manage the disease’s spread.
“These guys are not very good at handling crises. I mean, they don’t seem to be able to get their act together and respond accordingly, and again, I don’t think this something that should be downplayed,” he said. “This is a serious matter, and our farmers believe it’s a serious matter, so we might make sure the money is there, and that the staffing is there too.”
A USDA spokesperson Friday said there have been no cuts to staff used on the response to the screwworm threat.
“President Trump has delivered on $1.3 billion in funding and support for this effort including the 100 million weekly sterile fly production from our facility in Panama, construction, and operation of the new sterile fly production facility in Texas, and research into other new responses,” the spokesperson said.
(Updates with USDA spokesperson comments in 7th and 8th paragraphs. Story originally published June 11.)