Into the Fray — NOFA Mobilizes as a Plaintiff in Federal Lawsuits

by Steve Gilman, NOFA-IC Policy Coordinator

In January the Trump II Administration hit the ground running with a succession of Executive Orders intended to totally transform the U.S. government by systematically dismantling federal agency programs along with far-reaching workforce firings. The severe impacts also included strikes against immigrants, equity, fair elections, public health, disease control, scientific research, environmental protections, food safety, federal lands, disaster assistance, pollution regulations and climate initiatives. Many more cutbacks are forthcoming depending on the outcome of the President’s upcoming budget bill featuring a massive permanent tax cut favoring billionaires and corporations.

Through newly inaugurated Reduction in Force mandates, the White House has been making deep cuts to the agency workforce while installing their own political operatives to commandeer the federal apparatus. Trumps’ newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), given free rein under multibillionaire Elon Musk, has led the massive downsizing onslaught via firings, layoffs and coercive buyouts resulting in the dismissal of some 280,000 federal workers thus far at the beginning of May.

Within the agricultural sphere, there’s been a mishmash of Administration actions. As key constituents of Trump’s electoral base, Big Ag commodity crop farmers who are reeling from climate-generated severe weather coupled with an impending trade war are standing with hands out for increased disaster payments and another government bailout similar to the $23 billion under Trump I in 2018-19.

However, extensive funding freezes and cutbacks to programs serving smaller-scale farmers are devastating rural agriculture. The Department is also closing field offices and terminating specialist positions around the country for customized technical help programs directly serving farmers. A devastating $1.5 billion in funding for programs providing food from local farmers for schools and food banks has been totally eliminated. The National Organic Program is facing staff cut losses of nearly 1/3 of its workforce. USDA has further summarily cancelled over 3,600 contracts and grants. Farmers who laid out personal funding for previously-awarded conservation and climate projects are left holding the bag and facing bankruptcy with no reimbursement.

NOFA and other non-profit grassroots farming support organizations across the country are also deeply impacted by these funding freezes and program terminations. USDA’s refusal to release contractually obligated funds along with gutting personnel in key agricultural-support programs is causing legal harm. With contract cuts in the thousands of dollars, the NOFA Chapters have been forced to lay off valued staff, suspend projects and significantly downsize their operating budgets — putting their state organizations in jeopardy.

NOFA’s Lawsuit Recourse

With the authoritarian Executive Branch pugnaciously transgressing their constitutional authority while a paralyzed Congress abdicates its responsibility – U.S. Democracy itself is under duress. Thus far the Courts are the statutory power blocking portions of the administration’s illegal power grab. In response to federal court lawsuits, rulings from conservative and liberal judges alike are stepping into the breach. With further aggressive Trump Administration jolts in the offing, at this point the Court route is the most effective way forward.

On February 24^th NOFA-NY together with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group, represented by Earth Justice and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, sued USDA for unlawfully removing the agency’s conservation and climate-focused webpages. The lawsuit charges that USDA deleted major farmer resources and technical support key to agricultural and food supply resiliency in the face of the climate crisis.

Update: The lawsuit was successful! On May 12, the USDA said it will restore all the webpages within two weeks, with no further comment.

On April 28, after days of intense and protracted deliberations, the NOFA Interstate Council (NOFA-IC) representatives from the 7 state NOFA Chapters voted to participate in a major national lawsuit against the illegal workforce reduction actions of the Trump Administration. Due to the reciprocity and retribution pushback actions undertaken by Trump operatives that could potentially affect NOFA status, this action was not taken lightly.

A NOFA-VT farmer summed up the importance of joining the lawsuit this way in the ensuing press release:

“Farming is a trickle-up system; the more success the small farms have, the more farmland they can manage, the more food they can produce, the more people they can employ, the more people they can feed. If we want to continue to have small farms and see new ones start up, we need to understand how important these programs are to their existence”.

A key feature is that NOFA-IC’s participation as the sole agricultural non-profit plaintiff brings USDA into the lawsuit for harm done to farmers — as the USDA cuts “will undermine organic certification and standards, leading to unfair competition, and interfere with access to loans and other programs, financially harming member farmers.” NOFA has joined with a substantial coalition of nationwide labor unions, non-profits groups and local government plaintiffs. The coalition is primarily represented by the legal teams at Democracy Forward, Atshuler Berzon LLP and Project Democracy.

“Unconstitutional”

The lawsuit asserts the Trump Administration’s massive government overhaul is unlawful and unconstitutional — and further:

• the agency reorganization and massive workforce terminations by the Executive Branch is without Congressional authorization violating key provisions of the constitutional separation of powers
• the February 11^th Executive Order implementing workforce termination actions specifically usurps Congress’ authority under the Constitution because DOGE has no Congressional statutory power to dictate Agency staffing cuts or spending reductions.
• because irreparable harm has been done to the plaintiffs the Court is asked to vacate the Executive Order as well as to void the agencies’ Reduction in Force plans that were rapidly implemented without compliance to statutory and regulatory requirements.

Asked to comment on the lawsuit, a special assistant to the President said, “The Trump Administration is prepared to fight these battles in court and will prevail.”

Update: In a Round 1 victory for the coalition, on May 9th the U.S. District Judge, agreeing with the plaintiffs “to protect the power of the legislative branch”, announced a temporary restraining order pausing further implementation of the reduction-in-force notices in the 20 named agencies through May 23 while requiring the Trump Administration to fully submit the secretive agency restructuring plans for further adjudication. Filing an immediate appeal, Trump Administration attorneys argued the temporary restraining order was inappropriate and lacked jurisdiction. The judge ruled that the radical government overhaul is properly under Congress’s control, not the executive branch’s mandatory direction.