US Dept. of Agriculture Pledges $1B to Fight Bird Flu as Egg Prices Soar

US Dept. of Agriculture Pledges $1B to Fight Bird Flu as Egg Prices Soar
Above: A volunteer distributes free cartons of eggs in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa., on Feb. 21, 2025. Image copyright: Sarah Silbiger/Contributor/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Spin


Republican narrative

The Trump administration is trying to remedy the failures of the Biden administration's slaughter-focused policies. For years, Biden's health authorities ordered the culling of hundreds of millions of birds, even if they were healthy — resulting in rising egg prices due to low supply and high demand. The new USDA will fix this by briefly importing replacement birds and focusing on eradicating the disease only where it exists.


Democratic narrative

Pinning this on Biden is illogical. The deaths of 100M chickens were the result of a USDA policy from Trump's first term, not Biden's doing. And while prices climbed a couple of dollars under Biden, Trump, who vowed to slash grocery costs, has yet to reverse it, showing the issue is much larger than he thinks. Trump also refuses to target price-gouging supermarkets, proving he doesn't understand the economic aspects of this issue.


Metaculus Prediction



Political split

LEFT

RIGHT

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