Agriculture and National Security Act of 2026

More national security at USDA

This bill would require the Secretary of Agriculture to make national security a formal priority across the Department. It would create a Senior Advisor for National Security in the Secretary's office and require the appointment within 180 days of enactment. The advisor would be the Secretary's principal national security adviser, the main liaison to the National Security Council and other agencies, coordinate national security work across USDA, and talk with stakeholders about vulnerabilities and fixes. The bill would let USDA accept and provide detailees with defense, security, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies (with or without reimbursement), increase staff with security clearances and access to classified systems, and require an initial report to Congress and the National Security Council within 180 days and reports at least once every two years. Reports would assess specific food and agriculture risks (for example, foreign state-owned enterprise influence; control of agricultural data; foreign acquisition of IP, assets, or land; reliance on foreign inputs; supply chain and trade disruptions; science and technology cooperation; cybersecurity and AI; uneven R&D investment; and mismatched regulatory policies), describe actions taken, offer policy recommendations, and identify needed resources.