USDA economists may unionize (Government Executive): Employees of USDA’s Economic Research Service could vote in June on a proposal to join the largest federal employees union in order to protect themselves in the proposed relocation of the agency outside of Washington.
House Ag calls first meeting (House Agriculture Committee): Chairman Collin Peterson scheduled an organizational meeting of the House Agriculture Committee for Thursday, the first meeting of the committee since Democrats took control of the House.
Panel backs Wheeler for EPA chief (Senate Environment Committee): On a party-line vote, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee cleared for a vote by the full Senate the nomination of Andrew Wheeler for EPA administrator; he has been acting administrator since Scott Pruitt resigned last year.
Butterflies vs border wall (San Antonio Express-News): Earth-moving equipment arrived at the National Butterfly Center at Mission, in southeastern Texas, a sign of imminent work on the border wall that will slice through the protected habitat.
Women hold more ag commissioner posts (Politico): A record 13 women have been elected or appointed to lead state agriculture departments, up from the previous mark of 10, with five posts yet to be filled.
A lot of slow-speed internet in rural America (Daily Yonder): Rural Americans are far more likely than city residents to have internet download speeds slower than 25 megabits per second; nearly 90 percent of users in the most remote counties with the lowest populations lack that broadband speed.