Grassley welcomes proposed “Department of Government Efficiency” as long as farmer protections kept

NEW HARTFORD — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says as long as protections in place for farmers are not touched that he’s open to President Trump’s proposed “Department of Government Efficiency” looking into whether improvements can be made in the US Department of Agriculture.

Trump’s outside advisory commission chaired by billionaire Elon Musk and onetime presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy would look into ways to slash government regulations and spending while downsizing the federal workforce.

Grassley says he welcomes a review of federal government operations.  “I think if they are going to do their job right that every nook and cranny of the federal government and its programs need to be looked into, and obviously I would be very concerned if they cut away the safety net for American family farmers, but beyond the safety net, when you’ve got at least dozens and maybe hundreds of different programs in the Department of Agriculture, I wouldn’t say that every one of them should be immune from consideration.”

Musk has pledged to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, but he’s not offered many specifics on how he’d do that.