U.S. Department of Agriculture (2024)

Department of Agriculture
Secretary:	Tom Vilsack
Year created:	1862
Official website:	USDA.gov

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is a United States executive department established in 1862 in order to "provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management."^[1]

Tom Vilsack is the current secretary of agriculture. He was confirmed on February 23, 2021, by a vote of 92-7. Click here to learn more about his confirmation process.

History

The following list includes important dates in the department's history:^[2]

• 1820: United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture formed
• 1825: United States Senate Committee on Agriculture formed
• 1862: U.S. Department of Agriculture formed
• 1862: Homestead Act passed, providing land to willing farmers
• 1862: Morrill Land Grant College Act passed, allowing for land grant colleges
• 1890: Second Morrill Act passed, establishing black land grant colleges
• 1890: Federal Meat Inspection Act passed
• 1906: Food and Drug Act passed
• 1932-1936: Drought leads to Dust Bowl
• 1933: Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) established controls on agricultural markets
• 1936: Rural Electrification Act passed, providing electricity to rural areas
• 1946: National School Lunch Act passed
• 1964: Food Stamp Act passed as start to War on Poverty

Mission

The Department of Agriculture website states:

Leadership

Organization

Click here to view the USDA organization chart.

Responsibilities

USDA is responsible for researching, developing, and executing federal laws and policies related to food, farming, forestry, and rural development. USDA has eight mission areas: Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC), Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Food Safety, Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP), Natural Resources and Environment, Research, Education, and Economics, Rural Development, and Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs (TFAA). Through these mission areas, USDA aims to develop and execute programs to distribute food and nutrition information across the United States.^{[4] [5]}

Role of USDA in work requirements for SNAP benefits

See also: Areas of inquiry and disagreement related to work requirements for public assistance programs

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has two sets of work requirements that are required by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. Persons between the ages of 16 and 59 years old who are able to work must meet general work requirements to receive SNAP benefits. Work requirements may include registering for work; participating in SNAP employment and training or what USDA refers to as workfare programs (private or public nonprofit agency work as a condition of eligibility) if required by a state SNAP agency; and taking a suitable job if it is offered. Individuals required to work for SNAP benefits will lose benefits if they voluntarily quit their jobs or reduce their work hours below 30 hours a week without a good reason. If beneficiaries do not meet the general work requirements, they are disqualified from receiving SNAP benefits for at least a month and must start meeting requirements to receive SNAP benefits again.^{[6] [7]}

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms United States Department of Agriculture. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

• Sonny Perdue
• Tom Vilsack

External links

• Official Department of Agriculture website
• Official Facebook page
• Official Twitter page
• Official Youtube channel

Footnotes

v•e U.S. Executive Branch
Elected offices	President Joe Biden • Vice President Kamala Harris
Executive departments	Department of Defense • Department of State • Department of Homeland Security • Department of Justice • Department of Commerce • Department of Education • Department of the Treasury • Department of Agriculture • Department of Energy • Department of Labor • Department of Transportation • Department of the Interior • Department of Health and Human Services • Department of Veterans Affairs • Department of Housing and Urban Development
Cabinet-level offices	Environmental Protection Agency • Office of Management and Budget • U.S. Mission to the United Nations • Council of Economic Advisors • Small Business Administration • White House Chief of Staff
Federally appointed offices	Federal Reserve System • National Security Advisor • White House Press Secretary • U.S. Postmaster General • Central Intelligence Agency • Federal Bureau of Investigation • Internal Revenue Service • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives • National Security Agency • Congressional Budget Office • Federal Election Commission • Transportation Security Administration • Drug Enforcement Administration • Federal Communications Commission
Glossary	Appointment confirmation process • United States Constitution • Electoral College • Deferred action • Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) • Deferred Action for Parents of U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) • Impeachment of federal officials • Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) • North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) • P5+1 and E3+3 • Trade adjustment assistance (TAA) • Trade promotion authority (TPA)

v•e The Administrative State
Main	The Administrative State Project main page • Administrative State Project Index • Glossary of administrative state terms • Quotes about the administrative state • Administrative state • Rulemaking • Deference • Adjudication • Nondelegation doctrine
Reporting	Changes to the Federal Register • Completed OIRA review of federal administrative agency rules • Federal agency rules repealed under the Congressional Review Act • Historical additions to the Federal Register, 1936-2016 • Pages added monthly to the Federal Register, 1995-2017
Laws	Administrative Procedure Act • Antiquities Act • Civil Service Reform Act • Clayton Antitrust Act • Communications Act of 1934 • Congressional Review Act • Electronic Freedom of Information Act • Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 • Federal Housekeeping Statute • Federal Reserve Act • Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 • Freedom of Information Act • Government in the Sunshine Act • Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 • Information Quality Act • Interstate Commerce Act • National Labor Relations Act • Paperwork Reduction Act • Pendleton Act • Privacy Act of 1974 • Regulatory Flexibility Act • REINS Act • REINS Act (Wisconsin) • Securities Act of 1933 • Securities Exchange Act of 1934 • Sherman Antitrust Act • Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act • Truth in Regulating Act • Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Cases	Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner • A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States • Association of Data Processing Service Organizations v. Camp • Auer v. Robbins • Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe • Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Standard Oil Company of California • Field v. Clark • Food and Drug Administration v. Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation • Humphrey's Executor v. United States • Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) v. Chadha • J.W. Hampton Jr. & Company v. United States • Lucia v. SEC • Marshall v. Barlow's • Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency • Mistretta v. United States • National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. Sebelius • National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Company • National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. • Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan • Securities and Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corporation • Skidmore v. Swift & Co. • United States v. Lopez • United States v. Western Pacific Railroad Co. • Universal Camera Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board • Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Wayman v. Southard • Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service • Whitman v. American Trucking Associations • Wickard v. Filburn • Wiener v. United States
Terms	Adjudication (administrative state) • Administrative judge • Administrative law • Administrative law judge • Administrative state • Arbitrary-or-capricious test • Auer deference • Barrier to entry • Bootleggers and Baptists • Chevron deference (doctrine) • Civil servant • Civil service • Code of Federal Regulations • Codify (administrative state) • Comment period • Compliance costs • Congressional Record • Coordination (administrative state) • Deference (administrative state) • Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) • Enabling statute • Ex parte communication (administrative state) • Executive agency • Federal law • Federal Register • Federalism • Final rule • Formal rulemaking • Formalism (law) • Functionalism (law) • Guidance (administrative state) • Hybrid rulemaking • Incorporation by reference • Independent federal agency • Informal rulemaking • Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) • Major rule • Negotiated rulemaking • Nondelegation doctrine • OIRA prompt letter • Organic statute • Pragmatism (law) • Precautionary principle • Promulgate • Proposed rule • Publication rulemaking • Regulatory budget • Regulatory capture • Regulatory dark matter • Regulatory impact analysis • Regulatory policy officer • Regulatory reform officer • Regulatory review • Rent seeking • Retrospective regulatory review • Risk assessment (administrative state) • Rulemaking • Separation of powers • Significant regulatory action • Skidmore deference • Statutory authority • Substantive law and procedural law • Sue and settle • Sunset provision • Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions • United States Code • United States Statutes at Large
Bibliography	"Administrative Law - The 20th Century Bequeaths an 'Illegitimate Exotic' in Full and Terrifying Flower" by Stephen P. Dresch (2000) "Confronting the Administrative Threat" by Philip Hamburger and Tony Mills (2017) "Constitutionalism after the New Deal" by Cass R. Sunstein (1987) Federalist No. 23 by Alexander Hamilton (1787) "From Administrative State to Constitutional Government" by Joseph Postell (2012) "Interring the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule (2002) "Rulemaking as Legislating" by Kathryn Watts (2015) "The Checks & Balances of the Regulatory State" by Paul R. Verkuil (2016) "The Myth of the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Keith E. Whittington and Jason Iuliano (2017) "The Progressive Origins of the Administrative State: Wilson, Goodnow, and Landis" by Ronald J. Pestritto (2007) "The Rise and Rise of the Administrative State" by Gary Lawson (1994) "The Study of Administration" by Woodrow Wilson (1887) "The Threat to Liberty" by Steven F. Hayward (2017) "Why the Modern Administrative State Is Inconsistent with the Rule of Law" by Richard A. Epstein (2008)
Agencies	Administrative Conference of the United States • United States Civil Service Commission • U.S. Government Accountability Office • U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs • U.S. Office of Management and Budget