House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington unveiled legislation Tuesday to prevent government farm programs from discriminating against farmers based on their race or gender.
The legislation, called the No Discrimination in Farm Programs Act, would codify a July 10 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule which prohibits the consideration of race and sex-based factors when determining benefits under various farm programs, including farm loan programs, agricultural management assistance programs and indemnity payment programs. The bill, which was first reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation, would also ensure that such farm programs are being administered in a manner that “upholds the principles of meritocracy, fairness and equal opportunity for all participants.”
“Disasters don’t discriminate against farmers based on their race or gender and neither should our government programs,” Arrington told the DCNF in an exclusive statement. “Yet, during the Biden administration, disaster payments were distributed based on these discriminatory factors that had nothing to do with disaster impact. These practices violate our laws and our values, and they have no place in America.”
“That’s why I’m proud to introduce the No Discrimination in Farm Programs Act to ensure future administrations never again use race- and sex-based factors when distributing critical farm program funding meant to safeguard Rural America,” the Texas Republican added.
Under former President Joe Biden’s administration, the USDA promoted various disaster relief payments and loan programs for “socially disadvantaged” farmers based on race or gender. A group of Texas farmers sued the Biden administration’s USDA in April 2024, alleging the agency had “unconstitutionally and unlawfully” provided disaster and pandemic relief funds to certain farmers on the basis of race and biological sex.
On his first day of his sole White House term, Biden signed an executive order to embed “equity and racial justice” ideology across all federal government agencies. Arrington said in a December 2023 statement that the Biden administration was “using identity politics to drive public policy.”
In June 2024, a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the USDA from distributing disaster relief to farmers based on its “socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” designation, the Washington Post reported. Additionally, a USDAwhistleblower told NewsNation in May that the Biden administration’s loan forgiveness policies largely only provided support for minority farmers.
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