In March, The Lever reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had hired the infamous software company Palantir to implement its controversial return-to-office directive, warning that the contract could bring surveillance technology — commonly referred to as “Bossware” — to the federal workforce. Days later, those suspicions were confirmed. A published disclosure reveals that the…
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Black farmers like Sharon Mallory can finally get some relief after a judge ruled to restore millions of dollars in grants. Earlier this year, the Trump administration yanked the money away from organizations led by and in support of Black farmers. Mallory’s organization, the 2020 Farmers Cooperative, promised to purchase equipment and land and provide food for their communities.
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House Republicans, with the help of four Democrats, voted Thursday to approve legislation that would slash nutrition assistance for millions of young children and pregnant and postpartum women, even as food prices continue to rise nationwide and earlier GOP cuts to federal aid take hold. In a 213-210 vote, largely along party lines, House lawmakers passed an appropriations bill that would…
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The Trump administration is directing employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate foreign scientists who collaborate with the agency on research papers for evidence of “subversive or criminal activity.” The new directive, part of a broader effort to increase scrutiny of research done with foreign partners, asks workers in the agency’s research arm to use Google to check the…
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The largest single donor to Donald Trump’s inauguration was Pilgrim’s Pride, a poultry processor that contributed $5 million to the Jan. 20 festivities, more than the combined donations of Meta, Amazon and Apple. And in the first quarter of 2025, its parent company spent more than $500,000 lobbying the administration, doubling its expenditures compared to the same period last year. Since then…
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin next week to block nutrition assistance funding for states led by Democrats that have not provided data on fraud in the program, Secretary Brooke Rollins told President Donald Trump at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. USDA sought data from states earlier this year related to their administration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP…
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