Senator Fischer Responds to USDA Cuts, Tariffs

By Gordon Hopkins U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska) addressed recent cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and tariffs during a recent interview with Politico on March 13, 2025. USDAThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is cutting two federal programs that has provided more than $1 billion in funding to schools and food banks to buy food directly from local farms, ranchers and producers.“I work very closely with the food banks across the state of Nebraska. That was one thing that my office prioritized during COVID. We would be in touch constantly with those food banks as we saw the need grow across our state, with food insecurity for families,” said the senator. “So, I continue to support food banks. I also believe in supporting, you know, farmers and having that fresh food available. But let's not forget the canned food is also wholesome.”Fischer said, “I think there's different avenues we can take on that to make sure that we still meet the needs of people that are out there and need to be recipients of this.” TariffsFischer also addressed tariffs. President Trump has made increasing tariffs a cornerstone of his economic policy.Senator Fischer said, “I am a cattle producer. My family has a cattle ranch. Two of our sons are on that ranch now. We're calving. It's a busy time. When you talk about tariffs, people in ag get a little nervous, because we know we are the easy target for other countries if they are going to retaliate. But I can tell you, across the ag sector in Nebraska, there's tremendous support for President Trump and what he's trying to do in order that we have fair markets. We didn't see a lot of trade under the previous administration.”“What we need now,” said Fischer. “Is to make sure we can develop these markets and open more markets, but they have to be fair.” One example Fisher gave was ethanol, “Under the Biden administration, we were seeing imports of ethanol from Brazil with no duty on them. They were duty free, yet our American exports of ethanol to Brazil had an 18 percent tariff. Not fair.”President Trump has recommended the central bank cut interest rates to mitigate the impact of tariffs.Wednesday evening, March 19, President Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social, ““The Fed would be MUCH better off CUTTING RATES as U.S. Tariffs start to transition (ease!) their way into the economy.”Fischer is a member of the Senate Agricultures, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and the Appropriations Committee.

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