usda's packers and stalkers, they saw 40% decline in headcount.t base of people are calling me having been laid off the job like new antitrust attorneys being laid off. so i am concerned about the capacity but he goes directly to enforcement. if you're a farmer and you are selling no antibiotics ever chicken or beef, you darn well better want the usda food safety inspection service and agriculturalal marketing service to be effectively enforcing high standards around those labels because that's your livelihood and somebody else is knocking that off, you have an enforcement, what kind of market is set for consumers. >> i i would put in a plug, whie we talked a lot about federal antitrust enforcement on this panel the fed's are not the only people who can for sure antitrust laws. state attorneys general are going to be at the forefront of this for the next four years as a go to the kind of layoffs and he was talking. the space for private antitrust litigation to be brought. i would say the doj and ftc and usda even enough the only levers that consum

usda packer and stockyards division 20 october 20, 2020 40% decline headcount.ed on people calling new antitrust attorneys being laid off. i'm concerned about the capacity if you're a farmer and you are selling no antibiotics ever chicken or beef you darn well better want the usda food safety inspection service and agricultural marketing service to be effectively rising high standards around those labels because that's your

usda workers, noaa workers, federal government workers who to the work of the country that is oftentimes unseen as well as people like who are impacted by potential medicaid cuts that we have heard so much about from democrats as the republicans try to advance their agenda including tax cuts and figuring out how to pay for that agenda. what democrats say will come out of the pockets of people who are recipients of medicaid. that have been disputed by republicans. we'll see what happens on that front. the other thing i would also mention is that we're kind of see a lot of the cabinet members very likely, key members of trump's cabinet who just had their bruising confirmation hearings before the united states senate. you'll see the senators sitting there with some of the cabinet members who recently had rough goings. but so far everyone has made it through and gotten through and confirmed president trump's cabinet. that will be an interesting dynamic. host: 9:00 p.m. eastern is when this gets under way. that pageantry starts half hour. members start arriving hours beforehand. one thing aft

the usda is blaming the bird flu.ly lower prices. the new. >> secretary of usda saying that hopefully they will be. >> able to. >> begin to. stabilize things. the hope is. >> 3 to 6 months from now. >> where does. >> that and the consumer confidence drop fit in? >> well, age is just a very obvious thing. now, the truth is that you do have bird flu outbreaks that cause the price of eggs to fluctuate, and in some ways, most of this particular thing probably isn't trump's fault. but of course, the prices and the price spikes and eggs weren't biden's fault either. and the you would at least expect a president who ran on bringing grocery prices down to be saying something like, i feel your pain and we're doing everything we can. and instead he's busy going after die or something. and then to the extent that we're talking about, you know, disease outbreaks and this is a disease, at least for the moment among birds. but can you think of an administration that you would trust less to deal with disease outbreaks, whether among

. >> reporter: today just over 1% of 3.4 million american farmers are black, a consequence of what usdaion through loan programs that disproportionately helped white farmers. what does carrying that history feel like? >> just got goosebumps, there are so many black farmers no longer in business. i feel blessed we still have our farm. >> reporter: a disparity at least one investment company is trying to correct. delta dirt is one of more than 30 businesses receiving investment from pronghorn, a company aiming to increase diversity in the spirits industry, an investment the williams family hopes to pass on to their children who work alongside them. >> letting people know you can do things with a small farm. hard work, incredible family to boot. >> that's what legacy means, just keep on doing it. past with a >> reporter: honoring the spirits of the >> salud. >> reporter: -- with a toast to the future. morgan radford, nbc news, helena, arkansas. >>> that's "nightly news" for this friday, thank you for watching. i'm lester holt, please take care of yourself and each other. good night. bay ar

usda workers, noaa workers, federal government workers who to the work of the country that is oftentimes unseen as well as people like who are impacted by potential medicaid cuts that we have heard so much about from democrats as the republicans try to advance their agenda including tax cuts and figuring out how to pay for that agenda. what democrats say will come out of the pockets of people who are recipients of medicaid. that have been disputed by republicans. we'll see what happens on that front. the other thing i would also mention is that we're kind of see a lot of the cabinet members very likely, key members of trump's cabinet who just had their bruising confirmation hearings before the united states senate. you'll see the senators sitting there with some of the cabinet members who recently had rough goings. but so far everyone has made it through and gotten through and confirmed president trump's cabinet. that will be an interesting dynamic. host: 9:00 p.m. eastern is when this gets under way. that pageantry starts half hour. members start arriving hours beforehand. one thing aft

you mentioned usda and all these aid programs. well, doge is cutting all of those programs. so you're making the cost of living more expensive for people in the united states, while also cutting the efforts that actually should mitigate that. and this is why you see so many voters, particularly trump voters, that are upset with the handling of the economy. and this is why. >> you're saying trump voters were upset. >> you've seen so many gop constituents. >> come on, scott jennings, we. >> are going to talk about that in the next segment. come on tight. coming up next, we've got some new details on who exactly democrats are inviting to trump's joint address to congress tomorrow in what may become a circus. >> i have an important question. are you hungry? i'm hungry. >> oh, perfect. >> 11 generations ago, one of my ancestors left spain for the new world and a new life. 400 years. >> later. >> i'm back. i'm so excited. >> hola. >> familia. >> this is. >> cuisine at a different level. >> is the best place to be a. >> chef. >> oh my. >> god. >> we have. >> found spain. >> eva lon

also ordered the usda's national animal health laboratory network to fire 25% of their 14 employees.is super disturbing. because 25% of 14 is 3.5. "did you hear? they fired doug, raj, anita... and half of gary. turns out, firing a bunch of people big willy-nilly style is also pissing off the people that they want to keep working. earlier this week, to protest the layoffs of 80 workers, the fda's food safety chief resigned. great! we lost the guy in charge of food! that's one of my favorite things to put in my mouth! the fda official in question is jim jones, not the kool-aid one, and his title is -- and we're not making this up -- deputy commissioner of human foods. not to be confused with the "commissioner of humans who are food," who is, of course... >> the late, great hannibal lecter. >> stephen: there you go. all these cuts are the work of d.o.g.e., but it's not exactly clear what d.o.g.e. is. we know it's not an official government department, 'cause that would have to be established by an act of congress, and we know the guy in charge of it has not been elected to any office or

so we've repurposed funds from usda to push back on that. to be used for biosecurity measures which is locking the barns down. the avian flu is spread through wild birds, so how do we make sure all these barns can protect against the wild bird flu. the second thing is how to we quickly repoppe if late. under biden and obama, a lot of rules and regulations were put on these chicken farmers, and if it just takes a lot longer than it should to get hens back into the henhouse and laying eggs again. third, back we do, again, on that deregulation piece regarding repopulation but also just regarding egg farming and chicken a farmers in general. that's a massive piece of this, and we're rolling back a lot of those rules. forty, are there -- fourth, are there short-term import eggs, we've announced a deal with turkey, other countries around the world the get eggs immediately on the shelves, and hen the fifth which is perhaps the most important, how do we address the bird flu. it is highly pathogenic. it moves through the air, and it's really, really

next on the nine from beef to sweet treats, we'll take a look at where the usda says food costs are headedmore than 4000 acres burned so far. as crews scramble to contain a series of wildfires in the carolinas. i'm jonathan in h postcard on your screen, but that is a live picture of the gorgeous golden gate. a little cool, a little windy, but still a beautiful place to be here in the bay area. look, i know we talk a lot about the cost of eggs. even just finding eggs is difficult. the cost of a dozen is hovering around $10 here in california. that's a record high. now, the u.s. department of agriculture is forecasting an overall 3.4% increase in all u.s. food costs in the months ahead. this includes the cost of beef. economists say they don't expect food prices to come down anytime soon. >> prices for those type of goods go up. they tend to stay up just because there's no incentive for producers to lower the prices of any of these things. i think that what this is kind of an opening salvo of kind of the general population saying enough is enough. something has got to change. >> the same gov

a usda worker who was fired from her job helping farmers in business people through the rural development a number of people who are medicaid recipients, including one home health care worker. what a democrat's guess. tell us about the message they want to send, the image they want to project. >> well. >> chris. >> it's. >> about real. >> impact, right? >> individuals who are not. >> amorphous, federal workers who are a part of the blob. in washington. >> dc. >> but people who you might go to church or synagogue with, people whose. >> kids you. >> go to school, go to school with your kids. >> these are real. >> folks who are counting on jobs here. >> they're federal. >> workers, but they're workers. >> and what donald trump and elon musk and republicans are doing. it seems like. is creating an entire class of unemployed americans who are unemployed for really no reason other than the fact that donald trump and elon musk feel like it's time to take a hatchet to the federal budget and not do it strategically. also, beyond what democrats are doing here, chris, in terms of the storytelling, i

the folks at usda working to make sure neuralink's animal experiments that have killed over 1000 animalsgainst animal cruelty. looks like musk says that's a waste to the inspector general at the defense department, investigating whether it's okay for musk not to disclose any foreign government ties before taking on a bigger role in national defense. you're not going to be shocked here. but elon musk thinks that's obviously a waste. so as random as these cuts may seem, it's striking how well they also serve his bottom line. it's pretty ironic, given that musk basically owes his success to the federal government. the washington post reported that at least $38 billion of your dollars have propped up musk's businesses for about two decades. yes, you, the american taxpayer, were a crucial early investor who saved a struggling tesla and a struggling spacex. but instead of rewarding you for that, he's cutting programs that help you. and he's still adding to his own total. the post also reported that after musk tweeted that it was bad, the faa is getting ready to take a $2.4 billion contract awa

i mean, we're talking about people who, you know, usda, who do research on crop disease, you know, wipeops across the midwest. i mean, these are people that, you know, do incredible work for our community. they do it, you know, for less money than they would in the private sector. and they just care about our country and they don't care who is president, really. so that's really difficult. and, you know, hearing all these stories, we're trying to give them a voice. and that's why we have these town halls and we try to share their stories. i speak on the house floor every day because we want to make sure people know. >> so they're asking you to do that, i presume, in other things. but do you feel like you have power as a lawmaker to push back against the trump administration's cuts? >> yeah, we are not powerless. and, you know, some folks have reached out feeling helpless. and i've told them, you have a real voice here. i certainly there's litigation happening and we've had a lot of successes there. but even outside of the litigation part of it, you know, i'm part of a litigation task fo

i would say the doj and ftc and usda even enough the only levers that consumers have to hold the market accountable. >> other questions? right here. thank you. >> thank you, guys for coming here today. one thing i find interesting is how small businesses are affected by this. one thing that my bosses interest in how he can promote small businesses. what would you say are probably the biggest challenges that small businesses encounter when it comes to large mergers like you said with kroger? what are some ways small business can fill some relief from mergers as well? >> i'm happy to take this one. at its core that's an antitrust problem. in addition to promoting these smaller regional supply chains, you know, antitrust enforcement relies on market participants to come forward and complaints. you can watch the rest of ofs online@ourwebsitec-span.org. online at our website c-span.org. now to the national association of counties hosting its annual legislative conference in washington, d.c. live coverage on c-span2. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> please join us in the pledge of allegia

fund a budget for fraud reduction in each appropriation bill, the usda spends one 20th of 1% on fraud prevention. mandate that individuals caught stealing from entitlement programs pay hefty fines and or removed from the program permanently. and eliminate broad-based categorical eligibility. this committee has a choice, continue losing this war against criminal cartels and nation-states or fight back and save $1 trillion annually. fraud prevention is not benefit prevention. it's the key to ensuring every dollar reaches those who truly need it. hard-working americans rely on these programs not just to survive, but to build better lives for their families. criminals exploit the system, they just don't steal money, they steal opportunities. stopping fraud isn't about denying benefits it's about protecting them. this crime has two victims. the first of the taxpayers and the second are those seeking benefits. the fraudsters, cartels and criminal syndicates are watching this hearing. it is time to show them america will not fund its own destruction. thank you and i look forward to your ques

the usda is now forecasting even higher food prices in the coming months. >> so now we want to hear what think about this. let's go over to andre senior. he's right here with our viewer poll of the day. >> certain expensive grocery stores i won't say any names i have to avoid going to. >> oh, i. >> see you see what i'm saying? to go to the you know, because. >> yes. >> those. yeah. you know what i'm talking about. yeah. all right. this morning you're asking are rising grocery prices changing how you shop? and here are your options. picking cheaper brands. buying less or no. same routine right now. picking cheaper brands 50%. that's moving. buying less and no. same routine. just about the same right now. let us know what you think by going to ktvu.com/vote and tell us. >> still rising too. >> yeah it's still going. yeah okay. how people what people say about this. >> reveal it. so look as we go to break one more look at that poll you can scan the qr code is in the top right corner of your screen. it will take you i bought the team! kevin... ? i bought the team! i put it on my chase freedo

usda workers, noaa workers, federal government workers who to the work of the country that is oftentimeseen as well as people like who are impacted by potential medicaid cuts that we have heard so much about from democrats as the republicans try to advance their agenda including tax cuts and figuring out how to pay for that agenda. what democrats say will come out of the pockets of people who are recipients of medicaid. that have been disputed by republicans. we'll see what happens on that front. the other thing i would also mention is that we're kind of see a lot of the cabinet members very likely, key members of trump's cabinet who just had their bruising confirmation hearings before the united states senate. you'll see the senators sitting there with some of the cabinet members who recently had rough goings. but so far everyone has made it through and gotten through and confirmed president trump's cabinet. that will be an interesting dynamic. host: 9:00 p.m. eastern is when this gets under way. that pageantry starts half hour. members start arriving hours beforehand. one thing afterwa

according to usda, and i know the chairman talks about this regularly, nebraska's third congressional district. which chairman smith represents has over 60,000 farmers, more than any other district in the country. congresswoman fishbach's minnesota district has the second most farmers with over 50,000. congressman fenstra's iowa district has the 3rd most farmers, but what is being done to protect farmers? are we not concerned about the massive retaliation against our farmers that a trade war brings? it always impacts agriculture. are my colleagues, my republican colleagues in particular, are going to allow president trump to raise taxes on the american people without a say? that should be the job of this committee. the constitution is very clear about this. congress, not the president, has the power to impose taxes and tariffs and to regulate foreign commerce. that is one of the basic functions of the ways and means committee. and my republican colleagues used to agree with this back when there was a democrat in the white house in 2023, chairman jason smith said that president biden's

how about the usda? does your report recommend firing the workers tackling the bird flu outbreak? what snow. >> another major area. -- your list identifies i and cybersecurity improvement. does your this recommend anywhere that the federal government start bypassing security protocols and installing outside and unfitted software? >> no. >> is cutting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs recommended anywhere in your report? >> no, we do not discuss those issues. >> so no. >> that is not a topic in the report. >> so it is not there. >> right. >> thank. >> those are all actions taken by elon musk and the doge wrecking crew. none of it is doing anything to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse. it's not suppressing that none of his billions have been cut in government contracts that none of the actions have helped the american people. eggs are still expensive. waffle house has added a surcharge and thousands of workers across the country last there. -- their jobs. slashing all the funding for programs and services is only going to lead to more inefficiencies and more costs later. the ga

former usda employee lynn kummer believes his termination was illegal. >> i plan on appealing.which the federal civil service has. >> been demonized. >> and we don't have. >> skilled workers in the federal. >> civil service. >> and things. >> start. to happen. >> like. >> our parents. >> and grandparents stopped getting their. >> social security. >> checks, or veterans. >> stopped getting. >> health care that they need, that food. >> banks and. food pantries. >> don't have food. >> in them. >> a lot of people just think of like, white collar bureaucrats making all these decisions that they don't care about or that don't affect them. that's far. from the truth. these are nurses. these are park rangers. these aren't just people in dc buildings doing miscellaneous tasks. >> do you think that people. >> will notice. >> these cuts? >> absolutely. >> in terms. >> of the epa, i think people are going to see more notices that they'll have to boil their water. i think it's going to be detrimental to our environment. >> the white house. >> defending the terminations. >> citing what it ca