A ‘MAGA Warrior’ Texas ag chief is publicly blasting the USDA over a flesh-eating pest threatening America’s beef supply

A flesh-eating parasite’s reemergence in Texas after six decades isn’t just threatening to impose millions of dollars in losses on the cattle industry—it’s also causing a major rift between a MAGA diehard and the Trump administration over its response to the crisis. The New World screwworm fly—a parasitic fly that lays its eggs in the open wounds of not only livestock like cattle, but also pets and humans in some cases—was discovered in Texas last week for the first time since 1966. Then on Monday, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also reported the first case of the fly in neighboring New Mexico. Once hatched, screwworm larvae feed on the living flesh of their host, potentially leading to infection, foul odors, and death, sometimes within a week if not treated properly. Before the screwworm fly was first eradicated in the 1960s, it led to between $10 and $20 million in losses for livestock producers per year, according to USDA estimates. As the pest threatens to return in full force to the U.S., the USDA has put millions toward reviving a tried and true approach to containing the pest—producing sterile, male screwworm flies, which are then released into affected areas to mate with females that produce infertile eggs. Because female flies only mate once in their life, this approach helps to stem its population growth. This strategy was key to eradicating the pest for the first time in the 1960s. Yet, Texas agricultural commissioner and Trump loyalist Sid Miller has taken aim at the USDA’s approach. Miller, who lost a reelection bid in March despite an endorsement from President Donald Trump, tore into the department in a statement last week, saying “the USDA moved too slowly” and is relying on the “partial solution” of sterile insect release, instead of using all the tools at its disposal, which includes a strategy that employs bait and targeted pesticides to kill the pests. Miller criticized the sterile insect approach as an ineffective,“100-year-o