The Hill newspaper reported today on developments in the ongoing saga of black farmers seeking justice from the USDA. Mulch broke the story about USDA employees lobbying to have Pigford remedies stripped from the 2007 Farm Bill because of the 'boat load' of work it would cause them.

Senator Obama and Congressman Towns have raised tough questions about the employee lobbying, with Towns calling for an independent investigation. Now today per the Hill piece, USDA Secretary Johanns has taken a hard stance on USDA employees who may have used government computers and time to lobby against black farmer's claims for equity in federal farm assistance.

Johanns on Tuesday told reporters that members of Congress were “justifiably” upset about an e-mail that called on Farm Service Agency (FSA) employees to lobby against the language. He said such lobbying would violate USDA rules prohibiting grassroots lobbying by employees.

“I must admit, it’s painful for me that we have an e-mail out there that advocated a given position,” Johanns said Tuesday. “That really upset Congress, and I don’t want that to jeopardize what has been a very positive view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and what we can offer in the policy debate.”

He described the matter as a personnel issue, and said it was being investigated within the USDA. “We are not a lobbying agency here,” he said. “In fact, there are rules against that. So let me just speak very strongly that that is not permitted here.”

Read it all here.