Congressman Cleaver Warns of Impact of Trump Administration’s Federal Funding Freeze on Missouri Agriculture, Calls on USDA to Restore Funding for Local Projects

(Washington, D.C.) – This week, following the termination of a federal grant to the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council and the shutdown of a soybean research project in Missouri after the Trump Administration’s chaotic and harmful federal funding freeze, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver is warning of the impact the Administration’s executive actions are having on Missouri’s agricultural industry. In a letter to Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins, Rep. Cleaver is calling for additional information about the grants impacted by the President’s executive orders, the immediate restoration of funding for local projects, and a halt in firings of federal workers.

“I am writing with concern and outrage over reports that organizations and individuals in my congressional district have been notified that their federal grants or contracts have been cancelled or frozen,” wrote Congressman Cleaver. “These actions are having immediate devastating impacts on non-profit organizations, farmers, and families in the Kansas City region and the state of Missouri.”

“Farmers are already dealing with difficult economic situations and rising input costs,” Cleaver continued. “Now they are also dealing with canceled grants and contracts, as well as service center offices without USDA staff who can help them process loan applications or give technical advice during planting season.”

“I am deeply concerned that these funding cuts and employee terminations are happening with little regard to the human toll or the ability of USDA to continue to meet its legally mandated functions. I strongly urge USDA to honor its legal obligations to organizations with signed contracts, rescind grant terminations and release payments to farmers without delay, and halt employee terminations,” Cleaver concluded.

The official letter from Rep. Cleaver is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.