Senate passes legislation to avoid meat inspector furloughs
U.S. Senators agreed to shift $55 million in funds within the Department of Agriculture on Wednesday to avoid temporary layoffs of all U.S. meat inspectors due to federal budget cuts. The vote passed the Senate as part of a government-wide funding bill and was sent to the House on a 73-26 roll call, reports Reuters. The House is expected to vote on the bill today.
"If it gets passed, we will apply it," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters on Tuesday. Otherwise, he said, there was no way to avoid furloughs of all 8,400 inspectors for a total of 11 days.