On his first day in office, President Donald Trump followed through on a campaign promise to Californias ag and water interests. He issued a memo to his forthcoming Interior secretary to begin the process of rewriting the biological opinions for Delta smelt and other endangered fish. 

The environmental review would dictate the pumping operations for the Central Valley Project. It took the first Trump administration about three years to update the plan and four for the Biden administration. The memo, titled Putting people over fish,” shows Trump does not want to waste time in restarting the review process. 

The new president blasts the radical environmentalism” of the Newsom administration for challenging Trumps previous plan in court. In the memo, Trump writes that the 2019 opinions would have allowed enormous amounts of water to flow from the snowmelt and rainwater in rivers in Northern California to beneficial use in the Central Valley and Southern California.” 

He again held up the Los Angeles wildfires as an example of why the state needs a reliable supply and sound vegetation management practices.” 

Reactions: The Friant Water Authority, which has maintained close ties with Trump, found the memo promising. 

The San Joaquin Valley water provider said in a statement that Trump is following through on a 2016 commitment to fix the regulatory morass that has plagued Californias water users.” It argued the water project has been over-regulated, over-litigated, and overwhelmed by conflicting priorities and interests” for three decades. The authority estimated billions of dollars in water supplies have been lost to the ocean. 

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EJs: Restore the Delta shot back that Trump is reviving discredited policies that ignore science. The litigious environmental group argued the water is not wasted but used to sustain the West Coasts largest estuary. 

The governors press office responded that the only thing fishy are Trumps facts.” 


Attorney picked as interim DPR director 

Daniel Rubin, chief counsel at the Department of Pesticide Regulation, has stepped in as acting director after Julie Henderson departed on Monday. Rubin will lead DPR until Gov. Gavin Newsom appoints a replacement, who will be the fifth DPR director for his administration. 

Former Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Rubin to chief counsel in 2018. He has been with DPR in various roles for more than a decade. 

Take note: During previous leadership vacuums, Karen Morrison — along with earlier chief deputy directors — took over as interim director. 


Trump expands Feb. 1 tariff threat, while partners remain poised to respond 

President Donald Trump is doubling down on his assertion that new tariffs could hit next month. He told reporters Tuesday that China may also face new duties on Feb. 1. Meanwhile, U.S. trade partners reiterated that theyre ready to respond quickly and forcefully.  

Trump suggested on his first day in office that the U.S. could impose new 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as soon as Feb. 1. In a press conference Tuesday, he said his administration is talking about” a new 10% duty on Chinese goods that would probably” start the same day. 

The Canadian response: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that if Trump presses ahead with the plan, Canada will respond, and everything is on the table.” 

Our response will be robust and rapid and measured, but very strong. The goal will be to get those tariffs off as quickly as possible,” Trudeau told reporters. 

The Mexican response: President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed a similar, if slightly more cautious, view to reporters at a press conference in Mexico City Tuesday. Reuters reported that the Mexican premier said her government would respond "step by step” to any new duties. She previously told Trump that every tariff would have a response in kind.” 

Take note: Among the flurry of executive orders signed on his first day in office were directives to deploy the military to the southern U.S. border and the restoration of his Remain in Mexico” policy. 

The people of Mexico can be sure that we will always defend our sovereignty and our independence,” Sheinbaum told reporters at her press conference. "It's always important to have a cool head.” 


USDA unveils slate of senior appointments 

USDA has announced six additions to the agencys senior staff to implement President Trumps America First agenda.” 

Kailee Tkacz Buller, who has been president and CEO of the National Oilseed Processors Association, will rejoin the administration as chief of staff for Ag Secretary-nominee Brooke Rollins. She served in several USDA positions in the first Trump administration, including as chief of staff to then-Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky. 

Jennifer Tiller will serve as both chief of staff to the deputy secretary and senior adviser to the undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services. She joins the administration from the House Agriculture Committee, where she led Chair Glenn GT” Thompsons committee work on nutrition assistance programs. 

Read our full report at Agri-Pulse.com. 


Senators revive push to put USDA on investment review panel 

Sens. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., are leading a new legislative effort to give the agriculture secretary a permanent seat on a panel screening inbound investments. 

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States reviews foreign investments in U.S. businesses for national security threats. The Biden administration expanded the panel’s remit to include screening for risks to biotech and the ag industrial base. But the panel can currently only invite the USDA head to help with reviews as needed. 

Weve seen a surge of American farmland purchases from our foreign adversaries,” Tuberville will say in a statement today seen by Agri-Pulse. Oversight, the senator adds, starts with giving the agriculture community a permanent seat at the table on CFIUS.” 

The Foreign Adversary Risk Management, or FARM, Act, has eight additional Senate GOP cosponsors. The bill is the same as a previous version introduced last Congress. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, is leading a House version.


Final word: 

All they have to do is turn the valve.” — President Donald Trump, who reiterated to reporters on Tuesday his belief that Californias water policies are to blame for the Los Angeles wildfires. 

Correction: The names of Kailee Tkacz Buller and Jeffery Hall were misspelled in the Jan. 21 Daybreak.