In April 2025, the National Chicken Council opposed a proposed USDA rule aimed at limiting salmonella levels and enhancing food safety in the poultry industry. This opposition influenced the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw the rule, prioritizing industry interests over consumer protection and public health.

Released campaign finance and lobbying data shows the National Chicken Council registered $392,500 in contributions and $520,000 in lobbying expenditures during the 2024 cycle, indicating significant political influence by the trade group.

On September 10, 2024, the National Chicken Council submitted a petition to deregulate poultry processing speeds by removing the cap imposed during the Obama era. The petition argues that the cap is 'arbitrary' and hinders global competitiveness, aligning itself with the Trump administration’s deregulatory stance, despite significant concerns over the potential compromise of worker safety.

On March 5, 2024, the National Chicken Council (NCC) issued a statement decrying the USDA's 'Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity' rule. NCC President Mike Brown condemned the rule as part of an anti-business regulatory agenda driven by far‐left activists and criticized its purported cost estimates, arguing that the rule unnecessarily burdens the poultry industry and misrepresents the level of industry concentration.

An OpenSecrets profile details the National Chicken Council's lobbying activities, including annual totals since 1998 and bills lobbied in 2024, highlighting its role in influencing legislative processes.

In December 2023, the National Chicken Council sent a letter to the USDA urging a delay in the implementation of the new Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments rule. This move is viewed as an effort to impede enhanced regulatory oversight designed to protect contract farmers and ensure fair industry practices, thereby favoring large poultry companies' interests.

The National Chicken Council, led by President Mike Brown, criticized the USDA's final rule under the Packers and Stockyards Act. The council argued that the regulation would impose excessive costs and administrative burdens, encourage frivolous litigation, and destabilize a system that benefits farmers, companies, and consumers, framing the move as part of an overreaching regulatory agenda under Bidenomics.

In response to a Human Rights Watch report alleging severe workplace conditions in the meat and poultry industry, the National Chicken Council issued a statement defending the industry’s track record on workplace safety, citing lower injury rates and adherence to federal and state regulations. The spokesperson argued that criticisms were biased and that unionization efforts were a matter of employee choice, thereby downplaying concerns about systemic labor rights abuses.

Amid a federal lawsuit alleging that major poultry processors exploit contract farmers by keeping them in debt and treating them like indentured servants, the National Chicken Council defended the longstanding contract system as a performance-based, incentive model. In their statement, spokesman Tom Super argued that the system rewards hardworking farmers, dismissing the claims of widespread exploitation.

In response to a report detailing severe workplace abuses among U.S. poultry workers, including claims of workers being forced to wear diapers due to restricted bathroom breaks, the National Chicken Council stated that such incidents are 'extremely rare,' a remark that minimizes serious labor rights issues.