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Republican US Senator Roy Blunt stopped by our KTRS Studios this morning. Speaking with host McGraw Milhaven, Blunt says as co-chair of the Ag committee he's pushing legislation to get essential workers like food safety inspectors to show up for work.

Under sequestration, the law would change and meat inspectors would not have to show up, which Blunt says could threaten the jobs of thousands of food industry workers across the country.

Blunt says that "any furloughs or layoffs of USDA inspectors would threaten 500,000 private-sector jobs at the processing facilities. If all of the inspectors take the mandated 11 furlough days in place for many federal workers, he said the result would be a loss of $400 million on take-home pay for the workers at the processing plants.

Blunt met with the 130 employees at St. Louis' Volpi Meat Company on Monday about his push as co-chair of the Agricultre Appropriations committee to get essential workers to report to work.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, of Missouri, is threatening to block President Barack Obama's choice for Environmental Protection Agency administrator until plans are resolved for a long-stalled levee project in southeast Missouri.

Blunt and Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill expressed disappointment on Monday that the EPA and two other agencies missed a self-imposed March 15 deadline to establish a plan to move forward with the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway project.

Construction to close a 1,500-foot gap in the levee was halted in 2007 due to technical problems with the project's Environmental Impact Statement.

Obama announced his choice of Gina McCarthy as EPA chief earlier this month. Blunt says he'll use a parliamentary procedure known as a hold to block the nomination until the levee issue is resolved.