OMAHA (DTN) -- In an ironic twist that could have repercussions for the livestock supply chain, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and a group of Senate Democrats are taking a cue from President Donald Trump by proposing to essentially break up the country's largest meatpackers.

Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a bill on Thursday that would force most of the largest packers to sell or spin off lines of business or sell their entire operations if they are foreign-owned. The bill also would limit how many cattle a packer could slaughter from large feedlots daily.

Beef prices continue to soar because of tight cattle supplies. The average price of ground beef nationally is about $6.75 a pound, and both political parties are pressing for action on issues around affordability.

Schumer pointed to beef costs on Thursday while speaking about the bill on the Senate floor. Schumer drew back to more than 100 years ago when Congress passed the Packers & Stockyards Act.

"To lower costs, we need more competition, and to create more competition, we have to break the stranglehold of these monopoly corporations," Schumer said. "We've done it before. We can do it again."

The Democratic bill would force meatpackers to only process one line of protein, such as beef, pork or poultry. A pork processor, for instance, could not also process chickens under the bill. Major packers would be forced to divest or spin off other lines of business.

Foreign-owned packers such as Brazilian-owned JBS S.A. and Marfrig Global Foods (National Beef), as well as Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods, would be forced to sell their American businesses to U.S. companies because it would be unlawful for them to operate in interstate commerce under the bill.

The bill also would prevent meatpackers from slaughtering more than 10% of cattle from any feedyard with more than 24,000-head capacity.

As the Wall Street Journal first reported, the legislation would break up companies such as JBS, but also Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, which processes beef, chicken and pork. Other companies would also be swept up in the prohibition on separate protein products, such as Cargill and Hormel Foods, just to name a few.

"This proposal is absurd," said Julie Anna Potts, president and CEO of the Meat Institute, the lobby group for the packing industry.

Schumer's bill would "destroy the meatpacking industry" and would drive up protein prices for consumers, along with hurting livestock and poultry producers, and union jobs, the Meat Institute stated. Potts said the bill amounts to "reckless election-year pandering" that puts the industry at risk.

"Such a foolish proposal would never even be considered in another industry," Potts said. "Imagine the federal government mandating that Ford only manufacture trucks, while forcing them to sell off all their other vehicle lines to separate small businesses. It is unthinkable in a free market. They don't even do that in Russia anymore."

Schumer's bill only has 11 cosponsors and no Republicans, but among the cosponsors is Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who could become chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee if Democrats capture the Senate in November.

Still, the bill introduced by Senate Democrats falls in line with President Trump's efforts to challenge meatpackers. In November, Trump said on Truth Social that he had asked the Department of Justice to begin investigating meatpackers, especially foreign-owned packers. Trump suggested the packers were driving up the price of beef "through illicit collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation." Trump added that action is needed to protect consumers and combat illegal monopolies.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time her department was working with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to investigate the packing industry.

Trump then issued an Executive Order on Dec. 6, 2025, ordering the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to establish a "Food Supply Chain Security Task Force" to investigate the food industry for anticompetitive behavior and whether foreign food companies are increasing food costs for Americans. The task force was ordered to jointly brief key leaders in Congress within 180 days -- June 4 -- on the status of any investigations, regulatory actions or litigation tied to Trump's order.

ADMINISTRATION TARGETING ANTICOMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR

Ag Secretary Rollins has repeatedly told farm audiences the administration is targeting anticompetitive behavior, especially by foreign-owned companies.

"We will determine if any anticompetitive behavior, especially those by foreign-controlled companies, increases the cost of living for Americans, increases your costs of doing business, and we will address those because they are a threat to our food supply and to our national interests," Rollins told members of the American Farm Bureau Federation in January.

The legislation also comes as the Trump administration is aggressively pushing its new dietary guidelines food pyramid that promotes eating more protein products. The guidelines released in January essentially double the recommended consumption of beef, pork, poultry and dairy products.

Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA, linked Schumer's bill to Trump's call for action.

Bullard said R-CALF welcomes Congress getting involved to "address the competition crisis plaguing our nation's cattle markets." Bullard said Schumer's legislation is targeting the same competition challenges that President Trump has also prioritized.

"The administration and Congress are aligned: Both recognize the scope of the crisis facing the U.S. beef supply chain, which has seen the alarming contraction of the American cattle herd and a steady loss of the farmers who care for those animals," Bullard said.

Bipartisan attention to the problem is what is needed to create a debate about restoring competition in cattle and beef markets, Bullard said.

"We will closely analyze Sen. Schumer's bill, engage actively in the debate over its passage and potential improvements, and treat it as a serious proposal to address the broken market conditions that have harmed America's cattle producers for far too long."

Potts challenged the idea that packers were getting rich off the backs of producers, saying beef packers have been losing money for 18 months, including an average of more than $350 per head this week. She said there are other alternatives to lowering beef prices.

"The solution to reducing beef prices is to encourage cattle producers to retain heifers and rebuild the herd," Potts said. "Watching as our industry is used as a political football to score cheap points in the press does not provide certainty or confidence in the market."

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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