Cotton bill aims to lower egg prices as affordability pressures hit households

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to lower egg costs by loosening some regulations as the country grapples with rising affordability concerns.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., plans to introduce a bill that would change federal egg processing rules to allow more people to enter the market to lower prices on household staples.

Cotton’s bill, the Lower Egg Prices Act of 2025, first obtained by Fox News Digital, would update federal egg processing rules, making it easier to divert excess amounts of chicken hatching eggs (fertile eggs originally intended for broiler production) into the food supply as pasteurized liquid egg products.

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“Arkansas consumers pay higher egg prices and face egg shortages due to bureaucratic red tape that forces farmers to throw away hundreds of millions of usable eggs each year,” Cotton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. he said. “My design will reduce these excessive regulations and lower egg prices.”

The legislation would require the Food and Drug Administration to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to rewrite egg rules so that eggs intended for hatching can enter the food supply as a liquid egg product, creating an effective regulatory glide path to increase the number of eggs in the supply chain.

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President Donald Trump makes remarks during an event at Mount Airy Casino Resort on December 9, 2025 in Mount Pocono, Pa. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Egg prices rose steadily from late last year to early this year, reaching record highs of more than $6 per dozen eggs by March. But egg prices have been falling steadily since then, thanks in part to efforts by President Donald Trump and his administration to combat the effects of bird flu.

If the virus is detected in a hatchery, the entire flock is usually killed to stop the spread. Doing so could create a breakdown in the supply chain and cause prices to rise.

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A U.S. Department of Agriculture sign is seen in Washington on December 18, 2022. (Celal Güneş/Anadolu Agency)

Trump earlier this year ordered the USDA to invest $1 billion in a plan to strengthen the egg supply chain against bird flu by focusing on biosecurity measures, aid to farmers, vaccine research and increased imports.

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This year, numerous lawsuits have been filed against egg producers for allegedly fixing prices, and in particular, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit against the state of California, claiming that it violated federal laws and increased egg prices through bureaucratic procedures.

However, egg prices have been on a downward trend since their record highs at the beginning of this year. According to the latest data from USDA overview of egg marketsIn the first week of December, egg prices generally fell except in some markets such as California. Large white eggs, for example, dropped nearly 17% to an average of $1.91 per dozen eggs.