The Agriculture and National Security Act would establish within the Department of Agriculture (USDA) an Assistant Secretary for National Security, with appointment required within 180 days of enactment. The bill would amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act to add this new role and assign it responsibilities that span advisory, liaison, and cross-agency coordination duties related to national security.
It also authorizes detailees from defense, homeland security, and intelligence communities to USDA to improve information sharing and risk mitigation, and it requires biennial reports to Congress and the National Security Council on gaps, actions, and resources needed to address vulnerabilities in food and agriculture.
Together, these provisions formalize a security-centric leadership layer within USDA, aiming to identify vulnerabilities—especially around emerging technologies like AI, biotechnology, drones, and cybersecurity—and to align federal efforts across agencies to protect the food and agriculture sectors and the broader supply chain.
At a Glance
What It Does
Establishes an Assistant Secretary for National Security within USDA, sets appointment within 180 days, and authorizes duties and cross-agency coordination. Adds detailee authority from defense and security agencies and mandates biennial vulnerability reporting.
Who It Affects
USDA leadership, related federal agencies (NSC, DHS, DoD, intelligence communities), and private sector actors in food and agriculture that rely on stable supply chains and data sharing.
Why It Matters
Creates a formal mechanism to identify and mitigate national security risks in food and agriculture, including emerging technologies and cross-agency information sharing, with periodic oversight to Congress and the NSC.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill creates a formal national security leadership position inside the Department of Agriculture—the Assistant Secretary for National Security. This role is to be established within the Secretary’s office, with the appointment completed within 180 days of enactment.
The Assistant Secretary would serve as the Secretary’s principal advisor on national security matters and act as the main liaison with the National Security Council and other federal departments and agencies on activities related to national security. The duties expressly include coordinating national security activities across USDA, interfacing with two existing security-focused entities (the Office of Homeland Security within USDA and the Intelligence Community Counterintelligence Office), and implementing related statutes and authorities such as the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act and provisions of the Defense Production Act.
In addition, the bill would authorize detailees from defense, homeland security, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies to USDA (with or without reimbursement) to improve information sharing and risk mitigation related to food and agriculture. It also requires a biennial report summarizing gaps and vulnerabilities in U.S. food and agriculture security, actions taken to address them, policy recommendations, and the resources needed to fix current and future gaps.
Finally, the act includes a conforming amendment to ensure the Secretary’s authority to carry out these amendments under existing organizational statutes. The overall aim is to better identify vulnerabilities—especially involving biotech, AI, cybersecurity, drones, and supply chains—and to align federal action to strengthen resilience in the food and agriculture sector.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill creates an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for National Security and mandates appointment within 180 days.
The Assistant Secretary will serve as the primary national security advisor to the Secretary and as a liaison to the NSC and other federal agencies.
USDA can host detailees from defense, homeland security, law enforcement, and intelligence communities to improve information sharing and risk mitigation.
Biannual reports are required to identify gaps, vulnerabilities, and resource needs in food and agriculture security.
A conforming amendment clarifies the Secretary’s authority to implement these changes under the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Sense of Congress
The bill states that food and agriculture are critical to U.S. national security and calls for heightened attention to vulnerabilities in food and ag systems, especially with respect to emerging technologies. This section frames the policy lens for the Act and signals congressional intent to elevate security considerations in agricultural policy.
Establishment of Assistant Secretary for National Security
Not later than 180 days after enactment, the Secretary must establish within USDA the position of Assistant Secretary for National Security and appoint an individual to fill it. This creates a formal senior role dedicated to integrating national security objectives into USDA operations.
Authorization—Amendment to the 1994 Reorganization Act
The Act amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act to add the new Assistant Secretary position to the list of authorities, ensuring statutory recognition and enabling the new leadership role to exercise national security responsibilities across the Department.
Duties of Assistant Secretary for National Security
The Assistant Secretary will, among other duties, serve as the Secretary’s principal advisor on national security, act as the primary liaison with the NSC and other federal entities, coordinate across USDA including to the Office of Homeland Security and the Intelligence Community Counterintelligence Office, and oversee the implementation of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act and related Defense Production Act provisions. The section also directs the Assistant Secretary to work with stakeholders to identify vulnerabilities and to develop risk mitigation strategies for emerging technologies and supply-chain security.
Interagency Coordination—Detailees
The Secretary may provide detailees to, and accept personnel from, defense, national and homeland security, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies, with or without reimbursement, to improve information sharing, vulnerability identification, and risk mitigation in the food and agriculture sectors.
Biennial Reports
Not later than 180 days after enactment, and every two years thereafter, the Secretary must submit to Congress and the NSC a report assessing gaps and limitations in national security efforts related to food and agriculture. The report covers foreign influence, data control, IP and land, supply chains, science cooperation, cybersecurity/AI, regulatory policy inconsistencies, and other vulnerabilities, plus actions taken and resource needs.
Conforming Amendment
A conforming amendment adds in Section 296(b) of the 1994 Act the authority of the Secretary to carry out amendments made by this Act, ensuring legal coherence with the new national security responsibilities.
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Explore Government in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- The Secretary of Agriculture and the Office of the Secretary gain a formal leadership channel for national security matters, improving policy alignment and accountability.
- The Assistant Secretary for National Security gains a clearly defined, high-level mandate and authority to coordinate across USDA and with NSC and other federal entities.
- The National Security Council and partnered federal agencies (DHS, DoD, intelligence community) benefit from a structured liaison and clearer interagency channels for information sharing and joint risk mitigation.
- USDA’s Office of Homeland Security and the Intelligence Community Counterintelligence Office gain a formal interface to integrate agriculture-specific security considerations with broader national security initiatives.
- The broader U.S. agriculture sector and supply chain stakeholders benefit from a more proactive vulnerability assessment process and standardized risk mitigation in collaboration with federal partners.
- Oversight on foreign investment in agriculture (via AFIDA) and related security concerns improves through coordinated reporting and analysis.
Who Bears the Cost
- USDA will incur costs to establish the new office, hire or appoint the Assistant Secretary, and support ongoing cross-agency coordination (including effor ts related to detailee programs and reporting).
- Federal agencies that provide detailees or participate in cross-agency work will experience opportunity costs and resource commitments to support USDA coordination efforts.
- Compliance and governance costs may rise for private sector actors if data-sharing or security-related reporting expands as part of interagency collaboration, even if indirectly.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
Balancing the creation of a new, centralized national security leadership within USDA against the practical realities of interagency coordination, resource allocation, and potential governance complexity; the bill must translate high-level security objectives into concrete, funded actions without introducing friction or redundancies across federal security structures.
The bill foregrounds a security-centric upgrade to USDA that relies on cross-agency cooperation and information sharing. A potential risk is that expanding the Secretary’s authority and introducing new leadership could lead to governance complexity or duplication with other national security structures.
Realizing the biennial reporting requirement will demand sustained data collection across multiple domains, which may require new datasets and streamlined interagency processes. The reliance on detailees from security agencies raises questions about staffing, budgets, and long-term sustainability, as well as safeguards for sensitive information.
The central policy tension is translating broad national security aims into a concrete, operational program within an agricultural department. The act attempts this by specifying duties and cross-agency mechanisms, but it remains to be seen how the new structure will interact with existing security and regulatory regimes, how data privacy and IP concerns will be managed in practice, and what funding levels will be allocated to realize these capabilities.
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