wo Senators sent a letter to Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday demanding answers on the role one of his agency’s analysts had in blocking the Biden administration’s bid to prevent a merger between two of the nation’s largest sugar producers, according to a copy of the letter obtained by TIME.in September against the Department of Justice’s case against allowing U.S. Sugar to buy its rival Imperial Sugar.
The Senators told Vilsack that Fesco’s testimony violated the spirit, if not the letter, of President Joe Biden’sin July 2021 directing the entire government to work toward cracking down on consolidated markets and increasing competition. The order put a large onus on Vilsack to rein in Big Ag, in large part by updating the rules of a 1921 law to protect farmers and consumers from anti-competitive forms of exploitation.
“This testimony by a USDA employee against DOJ represented a grave conflict of interest, and raises a number of ethics questions about Dr. Fecso’s behavior,” the letter says, adding that it was “unclear that Dr. Fecso’s claims that she acted in her personal capacity are at all meaningful. She is a senior employee at USDA and was identified as such during her testimony.”
“It is extremely disappointing to see a member of the administration undermine the enforcement work of another agency and the broader goals of this government,” an administration official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter told TIME in September.
Poor things, Warren & Booker's emotions must be out of control right now...
How did a minor USDA analyst upstage Biden in effecting a sugar company merger?