Trump officials blame Biden for screwworm fiasco

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) drew widespread mockery after blaming former President Joe Biden for the screwworm infestation threatening Texas cattle, despite the Trump administration's own cuts to monitoring programs designed to prevent it.

Rollins claimed the parasite began making its way toward America under Biden's open borders policy. Marshall went further, claiming migrants "brought this screwworm with them."

Critics online were quick to react, pointing out the Trump administration terminated USAID-funded screwworm monitoring programs operated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Trump also fired roughly 15,000 USDA employees — about 15% of the workforce.

"I'm embarrassed for the Secretary that her only answer is to blame the administration that left office a year and a half ago," Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) wrote on X.

Timeline issues undermine their claims: the Biden administration closed Mexican cattle ports in November 2024, according to The Texas Tribune, but the Trump administration reopened them in February 2025.

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