The USDA said that if Congress does not provide enough money for enforcing a new, sweeping antitrust rule for meat companies, it will abandon portions of the rule.

Proposed changes to government policy could have a significant impact on both large and small meat processors

It has been a little over 40 years since Congress passed the Wholesome Meat Act, the major amendments to the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on December 15, 1967.