H.R. 5716 — FARM SAFE Act

This section designates any Department of Agriculture employee necessary to carry out an agricultural disaster assistance program as an excepted employee under the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1341) during a lapse in appropriations, notwithstanding restrictions on employment during funding gaps (31 U.S.C. 1342), and prohibits their removal under a reduction in force. (As background, the Antideficiency Act generally bars obligations and employment during lapses in appropriations except for designated emergency or essential activities.) It defines agricultural disaster assistance program to include (1) programs under title IV of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.), which authorize emergency conservation measures on farmland damaged by natural disasters; (2) the supplemental agricultural disaster assistance program under section 1501 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081), which provides payments for livestock, forage, and other disaster-related losses; and (3) any other program authorized by Congress under which the Secretary of Agriculture provides disaster assistance, as determined by the Secretary.