Inside the USDA’s search for ‘gender ideology extremism’
Having just returned to power in early 2025, President Trump ordered agencies to root out government spending that promoted, in his view, "gender ideology extremism” — an apparent reference to trans people.
Trump said it was so widespread it required "historic action to defeat the toxic poison."
But internal USDA records obtained by Investigate Midwest tell a different story. After a department-wide search in early 2025, USDA officials identified only seven contracts — out of tens of thousands of contracts and grants — they believed fit that definition.
The records do not identify the seven contracts or how much they were worth. The USDA also has not released a complete list of funding it later canceled as related to "gender ideology" or DEI, despite Investigate Midwest's public records request. The USDA did not respond to requests for comment.
The department had also directed employees to remove pronouns from email signatures, took down its LGBTQ employee webpage, canceled about 800 internal training sessions and moved to designate bathrooms by biological sex across nearly 23,000 USDA facilities.
Harper Seldin, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, told senior reporter Sky Chadde that all of those directives paint a clear picture of the Trump administration’s goal.
“This is a total campaign against transgender people in every aspect of public and civic life,” said Seldin.
Our latest investigation examines what the records reveal, what they leave unanswered and how the USDA carried out the administration's directive.
— Lauren Cross, assitstant editor & audience manager
Meet our new Illinois state government accountability reporter
Hello, my name is Nikoel Hytrek and I’m happy to come on board at Investigate Midwest. I grew up in Northwest Iowa and I’ve always loved the Midwest. I’ve also always been interested in government and politics and how those decisions make a difference in people’s lives.
That was one of the main reasons I decided to be a journalist when I was in high school, and I haven’t looked back.
Since then, I’ve covered presidential, congressional and school board campaigns in Iowa. I’ve also covered policy related to reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and water quality.
While completing graduate school in Illinois, I covered the Illinois Statehouse and learned a lot about some of the pressing issues that impact people’s lives and what lawmakers think about them. I’ll continue keeping an eye on them as well as the agriculture and environment policies they’re considering, and how the agriculture industry is involved in policymaking.
I’m an avid reader (particularly fantasy) and coffee drinker. I also like live music and live theater, and I enjoy running, hiking, and exploring in my free time.
DATA HARVEST: Data centers have moved into rural America. So have the concerns.
By Lauren Cross, Investigate Midwest
Data center construction is shifting toward rural America. At the same time, rural residents report greater concern than urban and suburban Americans about what those projects could mean for their electricity costs and farmland use.
That’s according to a survey released June 26 by researchers at the University of Illinois and Purdue University. The survey of about 1,000 U.S. adults, conducted in February, found rural residents expressed the highest average level of concern overall. Their greatest concern was rising electricity costs, followed by the use of agricultural land for data centers and overuse of water.
ICYMI: The impact of DEI initiative rollbacks
Our September 2025 investigation examined how the Trump administration's rollback of USDA diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives affected funding for community organizations, minority farmers and programs designed to expand access to agriculture.
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