The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has voted to deny the USDA funds to pay for agency personnel to carry out inspections at horse processing plants during fiscal 2014.

Prior to 2005, USDA personnel carried out horsemeat food safety inspections at processing plants in the United States. In 2006, Congress voted to strip the funding for inspections at facilities that process horsemeat for human consumption. Department of Agriculture funding bills contained amendments denying the USDA funding for horse processing plant inspections until November 2011 when Congress passed an appropriations bill that did not contain language specifically forbidding the agency from using federal dollars to fund horse slaughter plant inspections. No horse processing plants are currently operating in the United States.

On June 20, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed by voice vote an amendment that would deny the USDA of horsemeat inspections funds. The amendment, sponsored by Senators Mary Landrieu and Lindsay Graham, will be included in the Senate Appropriations Bill as it moves through the full Senate for review.