The Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have signed a memorandum to counter lawfare targeting rural communities, ranchers, farmers, and small businesses.
Lawfare refers to the strategic use of legal proceedings to hinder targets. The SBA’s agreement with the USDA gives producers a “direct line to report the regulations and rules driving up costs and impacting productivity,” the agency said in a July 2 statement.
It also enables the SBA and the USDA to “identify broader patterns of regulatory abuse to advance lasting deregulatory reform.”
The USDA will run a centralized portal that will receive lawfare complaints involving federal agencies, which will be shared with the SBA’s Office of the National Ombudsman. Any complaint involving the USDA will be handled by the department, while other complaints will be referred by the SBA to the appropriate agencies.
Under the agreement, the SBA is authorized to analyze complaint data to identify recurring lawfare practices, enforcement, or regulatory issues that are assessed as abusive or disproportionate. This is expected to provide insight that would guide deregulatory action for broader reforms.
In a July 2 X post, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agreement between the USDA and the SBA lets “producers get back to what they do best: feeding, clothing, and fueling America.”
“Family farms should not have to spend time and resources they don’t have fighting crushing regulations or costly legal battles waged by radical anti-ag ‘environmentalists,’ whether they are inside or outside the government,” she said.
In its statement, the SBA said the memorandum is in line with a January 2025 executive order signed by President Donald Trump, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.”
Trump said in the order that the “ever-expanding morass” of complicated federal regulations was creating “substantial restraint” on economic growth and hampering the country’s global competitiveness.
For each new regulation issued by any agency, Trump ordered that at least 10 previous regulations be identified for elimination.
Commenting on the memorandum, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said: “This partnership with the SBA creates clear pathways for redress, ensures fairness in enforcement, and demonstrates that Washington stands with, not against, the hardworking Americans who sustain our country.
“Through the USDA Lawfare Portal and interagency collaboration, we are delivering real protection under the Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework.”
The Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework is a plan aimed at protecting and preserving American agriculture while ending “onerous regulations” and the weaponization of government against ranchers and farmers, according to a Feb. 11 statement from the USDA.
The plan seeks to defend farmers and ranchers from politically motivated enforcement actions, protect agricultural lands from unnecessary federal projects, and remove burdensome rules that stifle productivity.
It also seeks to reform environmental laws to strike a balance between conservation and common sense.
Hellbound and Down 