The search began promptly. After resuming office in early 2025, President Trump directed federal bodies to eliminate expenditures advancing what he viewed as gender ideology extremism. He had described the issue as pervasive enough to demand sweeping measures against this harmful influence.

At the U.S. Department of Agriculture, personnel moved quickly to respond. They reviewed tens of thousands of contracts and grants against a set of keywords to spot items for termination. Yet within roughly one week, scant evidence surfaced.

A summary of USDA steps in early February 2025 notes that the department contacted its agencies to locate and end contracts advancing gender ideology, resulting in identification of about seven such agreements. Staff continued checking with various mission areas to confirm nothing had been overlooked in the initial scan.

Although few contracts aligned with the administration definition of gender ideology, the USDA proceeded to terminate additional funding in following months that it deemed fitting. In March 2025, for example, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins informed Fox News that a grant had been ended due to its focus on food justice for trans individuals in New York and San Francisco.

This sequence prompts inquiries into the criteria the USDA applied for terminations, particularly amid likely pressure to align with the new president priorities. It also highlights an awkward situation for the Trump team: the USDA stands as a largely traditional department that has faced repeated lawsuits since the late 1990s over barriers to support for minority and women farmers, leading some observers to view it as an unusual focus for conservative critiques.

Carolyn Sachs, a veteran rural sociologist at Penn State who examines gender issues in farming, expressed little surprise at the limited findings. She noted the USDA long history of bias against women and minimal efforts to support LGBT and queer farmers, with only recent modest steps toward inclusion.

The drive to remove gender ideology, which appears aimed at transgender issues, fits into a wider Trump administration effort to purge diversity, equity and inclusion programs throughout government. Officials often group these concepts together.

Under this approach, Black and female military leaders have seen promotions blocked, while recently only white South Africans have received refugee designations usually reserved for those escaping conflict zones.

The USDA did not reply to requests for comment on the summary obtained by Investigate Midwest via a public records request.

In 2024 the USDA handled roughly 100,000 contracts and grants per USAspending.gov data, excluding direct payments and loans. Court documents show focus on around 40,000 awards linked to the Inflation Reduction Act.

The summary omits names of terminated contracts and their funding amounts. The USDA has not issued a complete roster of cuts tied to gender ideology or DEI, complicating full assessment. A public records request for the full list remains unfulfilled.

Court records and Rollins public remarks indicate continued pursuit of cuts viewed as problematic. About a month after the summary, a $600,000 grant was targeted that Rollins described as centered on transgender men, though it actually addressed feminine hygiene products for women.

These records form part of Investigate Midwest review of the USDA during the second Trump term. Multiple Freedom of Information Act requests were filed last year to reveal internal discussions amid DOGE influence on decisions. Some responses took over a year, and in May the newsroom sued after 14 months of delays.

The summary ties to an executive order Trump issued on his first day titled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, which required agencies to remove visible references to queer or trans individuals.

Several days later the Office of Personnel Management instructed departments to report implementation steps. Late on February 7, 2025, a USDA official sent responses to defendingwomen@opm.gov. OPM did not reply to comment requests.

Beyond the limited grants found, the USDA informed OPM that it had required all staff to delete pronouns from email signatures, with Outlook prompts for pronouns now disabled.

The department was told to remove outward facing media promoting gender ideology, though the summary identified only one instance.

One USDA site removed was the Special Emphasis group for LGBTQ, with no other USDA.gov pages or official social media accounts specifically advancing gender ideology, according to the summary.

Trump officials identified further areas matching the order. They ended about 800 training sessions on AgLearn, the USDA internal portal, and committed to designating intimate spaces as male and female across nearly 23,000 facilities.

Other federal departments enacted similar bathroom restrictions for transgender workers. In Illinois a civilian state National Guard employee was barred from the women restroom and filed a lawsuit that continues.

Viewing the full scope of administration actions on gender ideology reveals a clear objective, according to Harper Seldin, senior staff attorney at the ACLU LGBTQ and HIV Project: a comprehensive effort against transgender people across public and civic spheres.

Ag Secretary Sustains Campaign Against Gender Ideology and DEI

About a week after the summary reached OPM, Rollins was sworn in as agriculture secretary and maintained focus on what she saw as a broad problem.

One early step was signing a directive barring USDA resources, including staff time, from creation, teaching, promotion or facilitation of Critical Race Theory, DEIA or Gender Ideology.

In early March 2025 Rollins posted on X that a $600,000 grant studying menstrual cycles in transgender men had been terminated, adding that tips were welcome as the insanity ends and America restoration proceeds.

Rollins had mischaracterized the grant, per CBS News. It contained one line noting that transgender men menstruate but centered on menstrual health education for women and girls plus development of feminine hygiene products using cotton and wool.

Rollins continued. Later that month in another X video she displayed seed packets labeled Growing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility at USDA and discarded them with a concerned expression, stating this is what we are fighting.

USDA Required to Reverse Funding Cuts Following Legal Review

Upon Trump return to office, emphasis fell on ending objectionable government funding. At the USDA the process proved hasty, and after numerous grant terminations the department reversed course under legal pressure, per court records.

DOGE operative Gavin Kliger led the cuts and instructed staff to add the word tracking to the keyword list for defunding, reasoning that carbon emission tracking in fields offered no farmer benefit. Yet carbon supports soil health and knowledge of retention aids yield management.

In another case school nutrition researchers were directed to flag studies containing the word class for possible termination.

By March 2025 USDA staff identified 309 awards matching a DEI definition from a Trump executive order, according to an affidavit in a lawsuit against the department.

About a month later most funding was unfrozen following a court preliminary injunction and out of caution, per another affidavit. Only 34 awards then qualified as DEI. The case continues.

Additional cuts occurred. In June 2025 Rollins announced termination of more than 145 awards totaling nearly $150 million as wasted on woke DEI propaganda, though the press release listed only three.

More recently the USDA sought to condition state SNAP funding access on compliance with administration gender views. States would be barred from promoting gender ideology, yet the department failed to clarify prohibited activities, per court records.

States sued in March and received a preliminary injunction in June. The case continues.

Assertions of Defending Women Appear Questionable, Experts Note

The Trump administration framed gender ideology actions as necessary to protect women, yet in other areas the USDA reduced women visibility in agriculture.

Earlier this year the USDA rejected four peer selected candidates for United Soybean Board positions, all women, according to Reuters.

One Wisconsin soybean farmer candidate told Reuters it signals the current administration perspective on women and their expected roles.

In prior USDA iterations some women felt inclusion on boards or committees served merely as a formality.

This year marks the United Nations International Year of the Woman Farmer, spotlighting women contributions worldwide. Under President Biden the USDA led U.S. participation.

Since Trump return the USDA has shown little public effort on the campaign, and an employee coordinating the work was dismissed last year. A dedicated webpage was created but later removed. Major farm groups including the American Farm Bureau Federation have supported the campaign.

The UN stated it works with the U.S. government and USDA on women farmer issues consistent with support for a 2024 resolution adopting the campaign. The USDA did not reply to a comment request.

Sachs, who also serves on a UN panel addressing gender, described the administration actions as failing to protect women and called them duplicitous.