1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

Congress needs to act now to restore FDA funding and staffing before more Americans die from preventable foodborne illness. The FDA had only 432 investigators in 2024 when it needed roughly 1,500 to do the job properly. Then the Trump administration fired another 170 support staffers. The result is fewer inspections, missed statutory deadlines, and no follow-up after serious violations are found. This isn't bureaucratic inefficiency — it's a policy choice that is killing people. The consequences are already here. As of August 12, 2026, the CDC was tracking 32 active multistate foodborne illness outbreaks. This year's Cyclospora outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce infected more than 11,458 people, hospitalized 495, and killed 2 — the largest such outbreak on record. We also have botulism in powdered infant formula. Infant formula. Meanwhile, nearly 30,000 pounds of Argentine beef entered this country without required inspections, beef that China had already rejected for containing chloramphenicol, an antibiotic banned in food animals here too. A century of consumer protections were built because the market will not protect us on its own. RFK Jr. and this administration are dismantling those safeguards in real time, and Congress is watching it happen. Fund the FDA fully, restore the staffing that was cut, and hold this administration accountable for every inspection it skipped and every outbreak it enabled. Do your job.