Department of Agriculture
According to Secretary Brooke Collins speaking on February 14th, DOGE has been working within the agency since the beginning of February. It’s clear why DOGE would be active within USDA - the agency not only distributes a large number of grants and is a significant regulatory entity. But there has been limited visibility into what DOGE has actually been doing there.
Positions
| Position | Person | Notes |
|---|---|---|
c.2/01
|
Gavin Kliger | detail court doc |
c.2/01
|
Jordan Wick | detail «no direct confirmation, but linked to agency by NYT, and other DOGE staff there in early Feb» NYT |
2/XX
|
Michael Cole | unknown «CC’ed on a leaked email. Date guessed from Ag Sec on 2/14 saying DOGE at agency for “a couple weeks”» |
Events
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
2/14
|
Sighting:
In a speech, the Secretary of Agriculture says DOGE has been at the agency for "a few weeks"
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2/20
|
Official:
In emails with USDA staff to identify climate-related terms to look for and cancel in grants, Gavin Kliger also alludes to DOGE developing LLM models for analyzing grant descriptions for specific language.
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2/21
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2/25
|
Oversight:
The Chief Human Capital Office of the Department of Agriculture testifies to Congress that OPM ordered the firing of all probationary federal employees
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| April 2025 | ||
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4/01
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| May 2025 | ||
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5/05
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5/06
|
Official:
The Department of Agriculture sends a letter to the state directors of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program citing the March 20th executive order that grants DOGE unfettered access to federal and state data and demanding they turn over data on recipients dating back to 2020-01-01 or face consequences
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