By Karl Plume
CHICAGO, July 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives' Democratic Women's Caucus on Monday urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reinstate four women to the United Soybean Board industry group after they were denied reappointment to leadership roles, a move by the agency first reported by Reuters in April.
The 96-member caucus sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and to USDA Agriculture Marketing Specialist Sarah Aswegan imploring the agency to reverse
its decision, adding that the move "takes the USB and American farmers in the wrong direction."
The Trump administration rejected all four women and one man chosen by their peers to represent them at the USB earlier this year in a rare intervention by the USDA, which has historically approved states' choices with few exceptions. The USDA has not provided any explanation.
"Your decision is not only disrespectful to the qualified women who were nominated, it sends a message to women farmers that their voices do not matter," the caucus said in the letter seen by Reuters and dated July 13.
"We strongly urge USDA to reverse its decision and allow these nominees to serve their rightful terms."
The soybean board purge left the organization, which oversees more than $121 million in funds collected from farmers to expand markets for U.S. soybeans, with just five women among its 77-member board, the lowest in at least a decade. Women make up more than a third of U.S. farmers but have historically held a smaller share of leadership roles in commodity groups.
The USDA's intervention came as the Trump administration has in the past year revoked equal pay initiatives enacted by the Biden administration and rolled back programs across the federal government that aimed to correct past inequities impacting women and minority groups. The White House argues that such programs are illegal under laws against race and gender discrimination, and work against merit-based advancement.
"This is the type of targeted discrimination I have come to expect from this administration. These women were nominated by their peers and deserve to be reinstated to do the work that they are capable and qualified to do," said Democratic Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota, ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
