Agri-Pulse reports:
Washington, DC — The Trump administration has quietly moved some $13 billion from a fund used to deliver tariff assistance to farmers in President Trump’s first term to Agriculture Secretary’s office.
On Sept. 28, the Office of Management and Budget greenlit a $13 billion transfer from the Commodity Credit Corporation to the Office of Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Asked about the move, the top Senate Ag Committee appropriator Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., wouldn’t say if the money was linked to a forthcoming announcement on tariff assistance. But he told Agri-Pulse, “We’ve been working on this, so probably you’re not too surprised.”
Take note: Hoeven said on Monday that the most likely path forward for tariff assistance would involve multiple steps. The administration, he said, would likely announce some unilateral measures while Congress worked on legislation.
“It won’t be just a one-shot deal,” Hoeven said. “The CCC is already ready to go. That’s done. That’s squared away, so the administration doesn’t need more help there.”
The CCC’s borrowing authority has been severely depleted, with some sources saying there could be as little as $4 billion remaining.
“That’s why it’s not going to be just one item,” Hoeven said. “We’ll probably be doing more before the end of the year, which will require, actually, some legislative assistance as well.”
Congress has been looking to lift restrictions on how much tariff revenue the administration can divert to farmers via a legal mechanism known as Section 32.
Ag Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., stressed that other farm support programs relying on CCC funding would not be allowed to lapse if the administration taps CCC for tariff assistance.
“We’re not going to let our commitments go by the wayside,” he said.
