$600,000: The USDA — the Department of Agriculture — Funded Research on Menstrual Cycles in Transgender Men.

§ 01 / The Program

The USDA Agricultural Research Service funded a $600,000 grant studying menstrual cycle disruption and hormonal profiles in transgender males (individuals with female reproductive biology who identify as male) receiving testosterone therapy. The research examined how exogenous testosterone affects menstrual patterns — specifically the timing and cessation of menstruation as testosterone levels rise — as well as associated hormonal changes in LH, FSH, and estrogen levels.

The first question DOGE raises is legitimate: why is the Department of Agriculture — whose core mission is agricultural research, rural development, food safety, and nutrition — funding research on human menstrual cycles in transgender patients? This type of research falls within the normal mandate of NIH NICHD or NIMHD; it does not fall within the normal mandate of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, which typically studies crops, livestock, food systems, and rural economics. The research may have scientific merit; the funder is anomalous.

Why This Is in the USDA Budget

Federal research funding sometimes ends up in unexpected agencies because agency budgets are vehicles for administration policy priorities beyond each agency’s core mission. The Biden administration embedded transgender health research funding in USDA — an agency with less congressional scrutiny of its research portfolio than NIH — as part of a broader strategy to expand gender-affirming care research across the entire federal science budget. DOGE flagged USDA grants outside the agricultural research mission as the most obviously indefensible category.

§ 02 / What This Means

What This Means

$600,000 in USDA Agricultural Research Service funding for transgender menstrual cycle research. The science itself — understanding how testosterone affects menstrual patterns — may be legitimate; the funder is not. USDA’s mandate is agricultural research. Human reproductive endocrinology in transgender patients is NIH’s domain. Placing this research in USDA was a policy choice, not a scientific one. DOGE flagged the mission mismatch; the Trump administration terminated it under EO 14168.

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