By Stacy M. Brown Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent As the Trump administration moves to eliminate key diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) protections at the U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Mundy, the university’s president, compared the funding disruptions to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture terminated the Regional Food Business Centers program, which provided grant funding to Kansas farms and businesses.

During Trump's first administration, the USDA in 2019 moved two offices to Kansas City, triggering a mass exodus of government workers and a drop in productivity.

Texas will become the seventh state to ban the production and sale of lab-grown meat in September. Florida was the first, followed by Alabama last year. This year, five more states, including Texas, followed.

Moving the Agriculture Department from Washington to regional hubs is part of Trump's effort to cut the size and footprint of the federal government.

Around 2,600 workers — more than half the Washington, D.C. workforce — will be moved to five hubs stretching from North Carolina to Utah, Rollins said. The union representing federal workers immediately criticized the plan as a ploy to cut federal jobs, pointing out that some 95% of the department’s employees already work outside Washington.