Tell Me Why!
From seedstock shuffles to UFC matches on the White House lawn
Each morning when I wake up, I hear the same three-letter question: Why?
The situation provoking the question changes from day to day, but the refrain remains constant: Why?
The repetition is enough to test my patience after a while:
Why?
Why?
Why?
You might try to console me, saying, “It’s just a phase. It won’t last. Toddlers are trying to develop logical reasoning, and they have an intense drive to understand cause and effect. They’re attempting to make sense of a confusing world. Eventually, they’ll go on to the next stage of development.”
This would make perfect sense, except the toddlers who lived in my house are grown adults. And there are no grandchildren.
No, I must confess. The persistent voice asking, “Why?” “Why” “Why” day after day belongs to ME!
Seedstock Shuffle
For instance, this week, I asked my husband, “Why is the USDA moving two seed vaults from the University of Illinois? It doesn’t make sense.”
He shrugs, responding with another question, “Who would know?”
The canned explanation in news clips is: “the USDA wants to move the collections closer to the farmers and ranchers they serve.”
What? The collections are primarily used for research. Again, I ask “Why?”
First of all, where is USDA moving the collections? The National Soybean Germplasm Collection, the only public soybean seed bank in the U.S., would be moved to the University of Missouri-Columbia. The collection contains almost the entire genetic diversity of the crop.
Ok, Missouri farmers grow soybeans. However, Illinois was the top soybean producing state in 2025. How could USDA get any closer to more soybean farmers? The collection has been housed at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for 70 years.
The Maize Genetic Cooperation Stock Center at University of Illinois contains 100,000 corn stocks representing genetic mutants. The USDA plans to move it either to the North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station in Ames, or the Iowa State University campus.
Granted, Iowa grows a lot of corn. But Illinois farmers produce a corn crop that’s second only to Iowa.
Does this make sense?
Not really. But why is it a big deal, you may ask. The seed banks are key to on-going research and protecting diversity. The physical infrastructure, climate control, and personnel care for the collections is critical.
Both proposed locations would likely need to add new facilities – an expensive proposition – to recreate the University of Illinois facilities. In fact, ISU experts say that its facility already is underfunded. There also are some risks in transporting the fragile seed banks from Illinois to Iowa and Missouri. The seed stock is irreplaceable.
Is there a good reason to do this? I can think of one, but it’s not good. More later.
What’s the Cost-Benefit?
If you pursue this seedstock shuffle, you’ll see that it aligns with the USDA organizational restructuring directed by Trump and Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins.
During Trump’s first administration, he orchestrated the move of the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) from Washington, DC to Kansas City, Missouri. I didn’t understand this in 2019, and attempted an article focusing on how it was working out. However, none of the employees who made the move agreed to speak candidly about it.
As it turned out, the General Services Administration (GAO) concluded the move created staff attrition, a loss of institutional knowledge and decimated productivity. ERS economic reports were cut in half, and NIFA grants to Land Grant universities were significantly delayed. Fewer minorities were hired. Contrary to USDA predictions, it didn’t result in cost-savings, or improve efficiency.
The Biden administration moved the headquarters of both agencies back to Washington, but kept the Kansas City offices open. Now, despite overwhelmingly negative feedback during the public comment period, Trump is moving both back to Kansas City.
In addition, under Trump 2.0, the USDA is moving more than one-half of D.C. employees to five hubs across the U.S. : Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah. (The USDA is establishing a new National Food Safety Center in Urbandale). Why???
In 2025, Democrats introduced a Cost of Relocations Act, requiring agencies to conduct and publish detailed cost-benefit analysis before permanently relocating any offices, but it hasn’t been passed. The USDA would close four buildings, returning them to the General Services Administration.
Is the administration worried that many employees might refuse to move?
Or is this the point? The USDA already has shelved more than 15,000 employees, through deferred resignation and early retirement.
Settling Scores
What’s the actual reason? Why is this massive relocation being done? A total of 90% of USDA employees already work outside of D.C.
When Trump was campaigning in 2024, he said he wanted to move as many as 100,000 federal employees out of the nation’s capital, relocating them “in places filled with patriots who love America.”
Now, are we getting closer to knowing why USDA is moving the seed banks from one Midwestern agricultural state to two other neighboring Midwestern agricultural states?
Illinois would be the big loser, right? How does Illinois vote? How does Trump feel about its governor?
There are many other Whys? So many of Trump’s actions defy explanation.
· Greenland threats
· Feuds with Pope Leo
· Reflecting Pool makeover
· Tariffs (Americans be damned)
· DOGE fiasco
· Kennedy Center takeover
Let’s all join together in one collective primal scream: WHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYY?
It’s not ideology; Trump is hardly a policy wonk. If you look at each instance, Trump’s inexplicable actions stem from one or more of these motivations:
· Greed
· Narcissism
· Ego
· Control
· Revenge
· Disdain for experts/elites
Now, here’s one final “Why?” On June 14, Trump is staging a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Freedom Fight 250 on the White House South Lawn. A 5,000-seat Octagon arena will be constructed, paid for by UFC. In case you can’t make it to the invitation-only event, it will be broadcast on CBS.
Why? The mixed martial arts sports attracts young males, and is compared to cock-fighting in cages: lots of punching, kicking, and blood-splattering. It’s all about the manosphere, and hyper-masculinity.
Nothing says, look how far we’ve come as we celebrate our nation’s 250 year history, does it?
Of course, it will destroy the lawn; UFC is supposed to pay $700,000 to restore it.
Why, just why?
Today so many of us adults are trying to make sense of a confusing world. It almost makes us nostalgic for the toddler days of Why questions:
“Why is the moon hiding behind the clouds?”
“Why should brush my teeth?”
“Why can’t my dog talk?”
However, we can’t stop asking “Why”, even though it would be easier to take a deep breath, look away, and respond, “Sometimes there are no good answers.”
Above all, there’s one answer we never should accept to any of our Why questions: “Because Trump says so!”
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I am screaming with you! 🤬
How do you spell retribution ?