Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Monday his department is working to get staffers back to work on a temporary basis to help farmers hurt by the partial government shutdown — but the "real answer" is for the shutdown "to end now."
In an interview with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo, Perdue said the Farm Service Agency has run out of funding, which has forced Perdue to work with the Office of Management and Budget to try getting farmers loans.
Subsidies set aside for farmers hit by President Donald Trump's tariffs have been suspended during the shutdown.
"We're hoping to work on strategies to get these offices open back soon," he said.
They also working on other strategies, he said.
"We are trying to get our people back into staffing positions on temporary basis in order to do the emergency type things that have farmers limited right now," he said. "Obviously, our folks are ready to serve farmers, they are anxious to help them, we're having calls from farmers about different needs and we hope to resolve that very soon on temporary basis.
"The shutdown needs to end, that's the real answer," he declared.
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