Which means closing the government for the USDA agency

Some functions of the USDA office will be suspended during the closing of the government. (Photo USDA LANCE Cheung)

During the closing of the federal government, there will be almost half of the employees of the United States Department of Agriculture, although key nutrition support programs, forest protection and fire prevention, the most burning diseases of plants and animals and the assessment of agricultural goods will continue.

Many offices, including the USDA Service Centers, will be closed or operating with minimal staff until the congress agrees to the ephemeral expenditure package. Support, processing of payments and other functions of these offices are also suspended during closure.

Congress did not issue the Stopgap Act on Tuesday, which resulted in the closing of the government at midnight, and federal agencies had to implement the emergency plans required by the Management and Budget Office.

According to Emergency plan filed By the US Department of Agriculture, only a handful of agency operations will be continued during closure. The main goal is that agencies cannot bear financial obligations if the source of financing has expired, and all planned or in-the works that would require recent obligations must stop.

Actions that can be continued during closure include activities financed by something other than funds this year, clearly authorized to continue the law, or the necessary implications necessary for the duties and presidential obligations and rights or related to the situation of crisis situations that threaten human life or protection of ownership.

According to the plan, it is expected that over 42,000 USDA employees will be submissive during closure. This is about half of over 85,000 employees that the agency said that it would be “on board” before closing.

USDA programs that will continue despite the closure:

• Processing agricultural loans.
• Some natural resources and protection programs, which are compulsory under the Act on a farm or to protect human life and private property, such as a protection program with a breakthrough, security and rehabilitations, the National Center for Water and Air Conditioning, which tracks the floods and weather risk and the national soil research center.
• “Basic” net safety programs. This includes SNAP programs and children who have financial resources until October. The program for women and children, i.e. so, will continue by closing “subject to the availability of financing”. According to the plan, there may be “recovered and realized” unused subsidy funds from previous years to cover the gap in the range of coverage.
• Food safety operations such as inspections and laboratory tests.
• Preparation and reaction of the fire.
• Actions such as assessment, assessment, control, import and export for agricultural goods. These activities are served by the user’s fees and therefore do not affect the closure.
• Emergency programs in the service of health control of animal and USDA animal and plants, which relate to the recent world world, highly pathogenic bird flu, African swine fever, rabies and exotic fruit flies. He examines other diseases of plants and farm animals during closure.
• Earlier obligations in Section 521 Rent housing agreement program. This is part of the USDA rural development office program that will persist.
• Operational requirements such as the principles of human resources, cSafety and critical IT infrastructure.

According to the emergency plan, USDA functions, such as ongoing research, reports, assistance and technical assistance, are suspended. The agency will cease to process payments and assist in the case of disasters.

Commercial negotiations, risky fuel treatments, special operate permits, regulatory work, training and travel by USDA employees and USDA agencies are also suspended.

According to the emergency plan, most of the functions are suspended on the risk management agency, natural resource protection service, foreign agricultural services, food and nutritional services, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Economic Research Service, National Agricultural Statistical Service, Rural Development and Personnel Office.

Website updates are also suspended as part of the closure. The banner on the USDA website informs visitors that the website will not be updated “due to the radical closing of Democrats”.

“President Trump clearly stated that he wanted the government to be open and support those who feed, fuel and dress the American people,” we read in banners.

According to the plan, “all activities will cease” for the American Secretary of Agriculture and its office during closing.

About 67% of the Agricultural Services or FSA agencies will be prone. According to the plan, selected leadership in the headquarters and the USDA office will remain when closed. This means that the Centers of Service Service, and most of the services they offer will not be available during closure.

Almost all, 1135 out of 1237 employees, in the offices of the food and nutritional service were to be launched during closure, although as planned, there are enough employees to facilitate Snap, Child Nutrition Programs and Wic. So he must provide unreleased funds from previous years to continue operating until October.

Nearly 20,000 of 32,390 forest service employees will continue to work on some approved agency work areas, such as fire prevention, protection of federal land and federal directives to extend wood production. According to the plan, public access to recreation places managed by the Department will be reduced.

A significant part of the operation of agricultural marketing services is financed from previous agricultural accounts or user fees, so services such as federal cereal control service and milk evaluation will continue, just like market information.

Operations such as the Country of Origin labeling, Packers and Stockyards program, national ecological program, coating egg supervision and pesticide data program will be suspended.

The plan requires a number of reconsideration in the event that the closure lasts for more than 5 days. This may include, for example, an agricultural loan employee or other employee at conversations in USDA service centers or restoring some conditioned employees for fire management.

Glenn “GT” Thompson, chairman of the agricultural committee, blamed the Democrats who demanded the coverage of the Act on inexpensive care Be added to the Act on STOPGAP expenditure, for closing the government and exposing “critical USDA services”.

“These political games are harmful to rural America by disrupting the farm’s payment, the help of a disaster, food assistance and other critical services,” said a Republican from Pennsylvania in a statement. “Performative photographs at state fairs and arrangements to producers who feed, fuel and dressed our country do not hide the truth – Democrats forcing the closing of the government cause more pain of our farm economy.”