WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today seeking public records about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s funding cuts to programs that support marginalized farmers, local food production, and urban green spaces. These programs include measures that educate farmers on conservation practices and increase equitable access to land and markets for underserved producers.

On day one of his second term, Trump directed all federal agencies to terminate a wide range of actions, grants, contracts and initiatives deemed “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) programs.

The USDA announced plans June 17 to terminate 145 DEI awards, claiming that it would save up to $148.6 million while “Putting American Farmers First.” However, the announcement targeted just a handful of programs that support American farmers in accessing land and improving the resilience of their operations, amounting to approximately $3.3 million in federal funding. Additional details about which awards would be terminated and which farmers would be affected have not been made public.

“Trump claims to care about American farmers, but these funding cuts are just more salt in the wounds to people struggling to keep their farms afloat under the weight of tariff wars and climate change,” said Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Americans, including farmers, have a right to know how the administration’s cruel and destructive anti-DEI agenda will affect farming communities and our food security. This kind of secrecy adds insult to injury as extreme weather, drought and other human-caused climate consequences make it even harder to grow nutritious, affordable food.”

On July 8 the Center submitted a request to the USDA under the Freedom of Information Act seeking public information about the names of the programs that would be terminated, the recipients who would be affected along with their award amounts and the effective dates of the terminations. The Center also requested the criteria used to determine which programs and awards would be cut. To date, the Center has not received any records.

The nation’s public records law is meant to ensure public access to information about the functioning of federal agencies by guaranteeing a response within 20 business days of a request.

Since the start of Trump’s second term, the Center has filed more than a dozen FOIA lawsuits seeking public records of the administration’s anti-environment and anti-regulatory agenda, including those that may have broad impacts on rural communities, public health and food security.

Today’s lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.