DOD and USDA Interagency Research Act
- Bill Number
- S. 4607
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 2
- Policy Area
- Agriculture and Food
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2026-05-20: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
- Last Updated
- 2026-06-23T13:29:09Z
AI-Generated Summary
Summary of S. 4607: DOD and USDA Interagency Research Act
Purpose
This bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct joint research and development activities. The focus is on advancing shared priorities in agriculture and food defense, including national security, agricultural resilience, bioindustrial manufacturing feedstocks, and natural resource management.
Key Provisions
- Collaborative Activities: The Secretaries of Defense and Agriculture must pursue joint R&D in specified areas such as:
- Engineering and technological improvements for the agrifood supply chain.
- Agricultural data architecture and applications of artificial intelligence.
- Biological sciences for biosecurity, threat mitigation, and invasive species management.
- Supply chain security for defense applications like fuels and materials.
- Innovations in precision agriculture, drones, and disaster preparedness.
- Wildfire prediction and mitigation.
- Memorandum of Understanding: The agencies must formalize coordination through an MOU or interagency agreement, requiring competitive merit-reviewed processes, public-private partnerships with matching funds, and risk management for national security.
- Coordination Requirements: Activities include secure data sharing, protection of producer data from disclosure, workforce development via personnel exchanges, and applied research to transition technologies into operations.
- Funding and Agreements: Agencies may use unobligated existing funds and enter reimbursable agreements with other entities, including the intelligence community.
- Oversight: Requires annual reports to Congress on coordination, achievements, expenditures, and priorities, with a public version limited to non-sensitive information. The Government Accountability Office must review effectiveness every five years.
- Research Security: Activities must align with existing federal research integrity standards.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Builds on the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (7 U.S.C. 6922) by mandating formal DOD-USDA collaboration and expanding research topics.
- Authorizes use of unobligated DOD research funds and USDA authority funds without new appropriations.
- Introduces a judicial deference provision, requiring courts to defer to the Secretaries' reasonable interpretations of ambiguous provisions.
- Adds explicit protections for agricultural data from Freedom of Information Act disclosures and other releases.
Potential Impacts
- Government Agencies: Enhances interagency coordination between DOD and USDA, potentially improving efficiency in addressing overlapping threats like biosecurity and supply chain vulnerabilities. It may increase administrative burdens for reporting and security compliance.
- Citizens: Could strengthen agricultural resilience and national infrastructure protection, indirectly benefiting rural economies and food security, though specific outcomes depend on research results.
- International Relations: Encourages leveraging existing bilateral and multilateral agreements with allies, potentially expanding joint efforts in defense-related agricultural technologies.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Federal agencies (DOD, USDA, National Laboratories, and intelligence community).
- Institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and industry partners involved in research.
- Agricultural producers and rural communities.
- Congressional committees overseeing armed services, agriculture, and science.
- Entities in the food and agriculture critical infrastructure sector.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- The judicial deference clause represents a notable shift, potentially limiting judicial review of agency interpretations.
- Emphasis on research security and data protection addresses concerns about foreign influence and national security risks in collaborative projects.
- The bill promotes public-private partnerships and non-federal matching funds, which could influence funding models for future interagency initiatives.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (1)
Recent Actions
- 2026-05-20: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
- 2026-05-20: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- DOD and USDA Interagency Research Act — issued 2026-05-20 — PDF (12 pages)