Senators pick at USDA reorganization proposal

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden took questions from the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday after the agency’s plan to slash its Washington offices and move staff to satellite locations across the country raised bipartisan eyebrows.

Much of the panel's criticism focused on whether the administration had sufficiently notified Congress — friction that led to Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), the committee’s chair, to call the hearing on relatively short notice.

In a testy exchange with Sen.