Unions representing staff in the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) research, animal health and nutrition agencies warned lawmakers of political interference and irreparable damage to their work from President Donald Trump's efforts to shrink the federal government in a letter sent on Monday night, reported Reuters.
More than 15,000 USDA staff have been fired or accepted Trump's financial incentives to leave the agency, leaving fewer experts to respond to an ongoing outbreak of bird flu and draining technical staff from local offices that serve farmers.
Trump's proposed budget would cut $4.5 billion from the USDA, including from conservation and research programs. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has defended the cuts as efficient.
"The combination of harmful budget cuts, executive overreach, and politically motivated staffing changes have weakened key agencies," said the letter from 20 officials of USDA staff unions and sent to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House appropriations committees that oversee the agency.