Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), a battleground Democrat up for reelection in 2026, in 2021 voted for the $1.9 trillion Biden coronavirus aid bill that has a loan forgiveness provision that discriminated against white farmers.
The Trump Justice Department said the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s loan forgiveness program violates the Constitution, as it discriminates against white male farmers by denying them access to a loan forgiveness program.
Big news: the Justice Department says it thinks the USDA's consideration of race and sex in a farmer disaster relief program is unconstitutional, and that it will no longer defend the program. pic.twitter.com/TQ6jbJvbui
— John Doe (@fedjudges) February 11, 2025
Ossoff, who is up for reelection during the 2026 midterm elections, voted for the $1.9 trillion Biden coronavirus aid bill, formally known as the American Rescue Plan, that contained the anti-white program. However, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said the bill could cost $4.1 trillion in the long-term.
The program pays up to “120 percent of outstanding qualified debt” to “socially disadvantaged” farmers. It defined those who could benefit from the program as those who belonged to a group “whose members have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities.”
The Biden U.S. Department of Agriculture in May 2021 described the program as “committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.”
The USDA has defined the group as “Black/African American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, or Pacific Islander,” not white.
Notably, Ossoff joined the rest of his Democrat colleagues to block an amendment offered by then-Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) to strip the controversial provision from the American Rescue Plan.
This vote, along with other controversial measures, may complicate his reelection efforts in a state that Donald Trump won by 2.2 percent during the 2024 presidential election.
Ossoff narrowly defeated former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) by 1.2 percent during the 2020 election cycle.
Shortly after passing the controversial provision barring payments to white farmers and the American Rescue Plan, Ossoff addressed a “Stop Asian Hate” rally in Atlanta, calling to remove the scourge that is racism and bigotry.
He said, wearing a mask, said to the Atlanta crowd:
This is Georgia. All of us gathered here today in love, this is Georgia. Hatred and murder do not define us. We stand resiliently in defiance of hatred and murder. This is Georgia. This is love. This is compassion. This is the best of us, and this is what defines the people of our state and our nation, not those who kill, or scapegoat, or engage in racism, or hate speech, or hate crime. Thank you all for being here. Thank you all.
“And now let’s look into our hearts and ask ourselves what we must do to rid our community of the scourge of violence, to rid our community of the scourge of racism and misogyny, to recommit all of us as individuals, and we as a community, to defining our lives based upon our shared humanity and our love for each other. This is Georgia,” he continued.
“Let us build a state and a nation where no one lives in fear because of who they are, or where they or their family come from, or how they live their life. We are here gathered in love, blessings to all of you, gratitude to all of you. We move forward together. Thank you,” he added.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
