It seems as though every time a new Administration moves into the White House, they flex their muscles and issue an order initiating a new hiring ban and stopping forward movement on all new regulations.

Trump’s orders have people wringing their hands and declaring the sky is falling, including some from my old stomping grounds, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

FSIS sent out an internal message to employees advising them that delays in laboratory testing should be expected because of the freeze. The memo states that “turnaround times are expected to be delayed by at least 24 hours on these samples.”

Why send the memo internally? Better yet, send it to those that might be at greater risk; the American consumer.

“These samples” include swabs, samples and liquid rinses from poultry, meat and egg products taken by FSIS inspectors in various slaughter and processing plants across the United States. Oh, I forgot momentarily, they also test catfish, thanks to the U.S. Congress.

The effective date for the delays to begin is January 18, 2017. The Presidential order was issued on January 23, 2017.

The delays are supposedly “due to a temporary decrease in staffing.”

The FSIS has three laboratories that they use for testing the products they are responsible for; the headquarters are in Athens, Ga., with other labs in St. Louis, Mo., and Albany, Calif.

Now I have to ask, how can a temporary shortage that preceded the Presidential Order delay test results across the board when one has three labs to spread the work load around if necessary? And how can a Presidential Order retroactively create the shortage of personnel? And how can a freeze in hiring suddenly slow vital work down by at least 24 hours?

This is the public’s health we are talking about here; identifying contaminated food and either keeping it out of our food supply or getting it out of the food supply. It is the Pathology Branch’s top priority, and that means the Associate Administrator of the Office of Public Health, the leader of those laboratory personnel, had better figure out a way around this supposed dilemma. Maybe a little overtime is called for. After all, they can’t be all that short of staff just all of a sudden. But what I read into this is the message that they are so important that they should not be touched by a hiring freeze or people will die.

And that is exactly what that self-appointed watchdog of the FSIS, Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) is saying. “We are seeing the devastating effects of President Trump’s federal hiring freeze.”

Congresswoman DeLauro, look up Presidential Orders issued in President Obama’s first weeks. You will find the same hiring freeze and the same hand wringing. Anyone who has worked in D.C. for any length of time has come to expect this every election when the guard changes.

Instead of pointing fingers at the White House, I suggest having a talk with the undersecretary for food safety at the USDA and ask what FSIS is going to do about this internally. Oh, I forgot once again; President Obama has left that position open the last three years.

In passing, I would ask my readers to please keep their political opinions to themselves, unless they directly involve food safety. Please do not use my blogs as a place for your political opinions to be displayed.

Ho hum, another federal hiring freeze

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