News

USDA COVID relief spending scrutinized

The ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee wants an accounting of USDA COVID relief spending.

Arkansas Republican John Boozman is requesting a report detailing how $11 billion included in last year’s appropriations bill was spent and the rationale explaining how the use of those funds is consistent with the law.

Republican colleague Chuck Grassley of Iowa tells Brownfield it’s the constitutional responsibility of Congress to keep on top of spending.

“And when it comes to COVID money, we’ve been concerned about whether or not we appropriated more money than needs to be appropriated. And if it’s not spent, it could be used for other things.”

Boozman says USDA successfully distributed billions of dollars of relief through a variety of efforts including top-up payments for crop and livestock producers.  But he is concerned that as a need for additional financial resources to respond to the pandemic has waned, USDA has begun using unobligated balances for projects unrelated to impacts of coronavirus.