{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.slotkin.senate.gov/2025/10/22/slotkin-klobuchar-colleagues-press-usda-to-address-animal-health-impacts-of-their-proposed-reorganization/", "Slotkin, Klobuchar, Colleagues Press USDA to Address Animal Health Impacts of their Proposed Reorganization", "2025-10-22", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "MI", "Elissa Slotkin", "S001208", "www.slotkin.senate.gov", "slotkin", "https://www.slotkin.senate.gov/newsroom/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Ranking Member for the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, and Food Safety, and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, led seven of their colleagues in pressing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden on the Department\u2019s proposed reorganization plan and its impacts on animal health threats.\n\n\u201cWe write to express our strong concerns that the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) Department-wide reorganization plan could disrupt critical animal and plant health activities,\u201d wrote the Senators. \u201cThe USDA should not hamper its capacity to address the dangerous threats posed by New World Screwworm (NWS) and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) to livestock and poultry, like so many animal health threats faced by the United States, through coordination, monitoring, communication, and research and scientific development.\u201d\n\n\u201cUSDA is already reeling from the chaotic firing, rehiring, and resignation of key workers. Since the beginning of this Administration alone, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has seen over 1,300 employees leave due to the Deferred Resignation Program, including around 100 veterinarian positions, with more than 500 additional employees departing due to other attrition,\u201d the Senators continued. \u201cMost of these employees were in key animal and plant health positions working within the divisions of Veterinary Services, Plant Protection & Quarantine, and Wildlife Services, preventing dangerous plant and animal disease threats from entering the United States and providing critical deterrent services to airports to avert bird strikes on planes.\u201d\n\nAlong with Slotkin and Klobuchar, the letter was signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nThe full letter is available here and below.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.slotkin.senate.gov/2025/10/22/slotkin-klobuchar-colleagues-press-usda-to-address-animal-health-impacts-of-their-proposed-reorganization/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9993151761591434, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}