HR7153-119

What This Bill Does

The Agriculture and National Security Act of 2026 declares that food and agriculture are critical to national security and directs USDA to elevate national-security work in addition to homeland-security work. Within 180 days, the Secretary of Agriculture must establish and appoint a Senior Advisor for National Security in the Office of the Secretary. The Senior Advisor must be the Secretary's principal national-security advisor, liaise with the National Security Council and other federal agencies, coordinate national-security activities across USDA, integrate national-security concerns into homeland-security work, and communicate with stakeholders about food and agriculture vulnerabilities and risk mitigation. USDA must increase the number of staff with security clearances and access to classified systems. The bill amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act to let USDA provide, accept, and employ detailees from defense, national and homeland security, law-enforcement, and intelligence agencies with or without reimbursement. USDA must report to Congress and the National Security Council within 180 days and at least every two years on national-security gaps in food and agriculture, including foreign state-owned enterprise influence, agricultural data control, foreign acquisition of intellectual property, assets, and land, foreign-sourced input dependence, supply chain and trade disruption, science and technology cooperation, cybersecurity and AI, unequal research investment, regulatory mismatches, emerging technology vulnerabilities, actions taken, recommendations, and needed resources.

Who Benefits and How

USDA leadership benefits from a dedicated Senior Advisor and clearer authority to integrate food and agriculture into national-security work. The National Security Council, Congress, defense agencies, law-enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, and homeland-security offices benefit from better agricultural threat information and staffing exchanges. Farmers, ranchers, food processors, agricultural technology companies, and supply-chain operators benefit if USDA identifies risks involving foreign land acquisition, input shortages, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, trade disruptions, or agricultural data before they harm production. Stakeholders gain a formal communication channel for vulnerability identification.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USDA personnel offices, security-clearance staff, the Office of the Secretary, the Office of Homeland Security, and the new Senior Advisor must build classified-system capacity, coordinate detailees, manage interagency relationships, conduct stakeholder outreach, and produce biennial reports. Defense, law-enforcement, homeland-security, and intelligence agencies may need to lend staff or absorb USDA detailees. Agricultural companies and landowners may face more scrutiny over foreign ownership, data control, supply chains, and technology cooperation. Federal taxpayers bear administrative and staffing costs.

Key Provisions

• Requires USDA to prioritize national security in addition to homeland security for food and agriculture.
• Creates a Senior Advisor for National Security in the Office of the Secretary within 180 days.
• Requires USDA to increase staff with security clearances and classified-system access.
• Authorizes personnel details between USDA and defense, security, law-enforcement, and intelligence agencies.
• Requires biennial reports to Congress and the National Security Council on food and agriculture vulnerabilities.
• Requires reporting on foreign ownership, agricultural data, input dependence, supply chains, cybersecurity, AI, research investment, regulation, and resource needs.