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New York Post
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
USDA to vacate several Washington buildings, relocate staff to regional hubs
The US Department of Agriculture announced Thursday it will relocate much of its staff in the Washington, D.C., area to five regional hubs and vacate several buildings in the nation's capital, including its flagship research center. No more than 2,000 USDA employees will remain in the Washington area at the conclusion of the reorganization effort, the agency said in a news release. Advertisement The remaining 2,600 people will be relocated to hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City. The USDA also said it will vacate several locations in the Washington area, including its flagship research center, the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland, and one of its headquarters buildings on the National Mall. 'American agriculture feeds, clothes and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers and producers we are mandated to support,' Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement. 'President Trump was elected to make real change in Washington, and we are doing just that by moving our key services outside the beltway and into great American cities across the country. 'We will do so through a transparent and commonsense process that preserves USDA's critical health and public safety services the American public relies on,' she continued. 'We will do right by the great American people who we serve and with respect to the thousands of hardworking USDA employees who so nobly serve their country.' Advertisement 4 The USDA is relocating thousands of staffers based in Washington, D.C. JHVEPhoto – In a video to staff, Rollins said the plan to relocate workers was made to bring the agency's staff closer to its 'core constituents.' The USDA's plan is the latest effort by the Trump administration to reorganize and downsize the federal workforce. The agency is not making widespread cuts to its staff, although the relocation plan is part of the USDA's process of reducing its workforce, it said in the release. Advertisement 4 USDA employees will be sent to five regional hubs across the US. Wangkun Jia – It said much of its reduction was through voluntary retirements and the agency's Deferred Retirement Program. More than 15,000 workers, about 15% of its total workforce, voluntarily chose one of the two financial incentive offers to resign. The Senate Agriculture Committee's chair, Arkansas Republican Sen. John Boozman; the ranking member, Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar; and the ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, Minnesota Democrat Rep. Angie Craig, said in statements they were not consulted on the plan and called for hearings on the reorganization effort. Advertisement 4 The US Department of Agriculture is led by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. AP 'The best way to serve our agriculture community is by working together, so it's disappointing USDA didn't share its plans in advance of this announcement,' Boozman said. Craig said the 'planned reorganization announced by the agriculture secretary without notice or input from Congress or key stakeholders and constituencies demonstrates that this administration failed to learn the lessons from previous similar efforts and is willfully risking the effectiveness of the agencies and programs that support America's family farmers.' The USDA also plans to reduce or close some regional offices, including consolidating the National Agricultural Statistics Service, which publishes agricultural market data, from twelve offices to five, according to a memo from the agency. 4 The staff relocations are part of the Trump administration's plan to organize and downsize the federal workforce. AP Additionally, the Forest Service will close its nine regional offices over the next year in a plan that 'will take into consideration the ongoing fire season,' the memo noted. The Agricultural Research Service's staff have already struggled with its workload after the voluntary resignations, according to employee Ethan Roberts. 'Many will not take the [relocation] offer, and we will lose even more administrative employees that are critical to the everyday functioning of the USDA and ARS,' he said. Reuters contributed to this report.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
At least 15,000 USDA employees accept voluntary resignation offer
(The Hill) — Thousands of employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) accepted the Trump administration's voluntary resignation offer, leading to a significant reduction in force. The decrease accounts for about 15 percent of the total workforce at the department which regulates food quality, agriculture development and nationwide nutrition efforts. A USDA spokesperson told The Hill that as of May 1, 15,182 employees elected to take a resignation offer. 'Secretary [Brooke] Rollins is working to reorient the department to be more effective and efficient at serving the American people, including by prioritizing farmers, ranchers, and producers. She will not compromise the critical work of the Department,' the spokesperson said. 'As part of this reorientation, the Deferred Retirement Program (DRP), a completely voluntary tool, was used to empower employees to decide what is best for them,' they added. The spokesperson said the Biden administration hired a large number of workers with 'no sustainable' way to pay them. A USDA readout detailed that 555 employees at the Food Safety and Inspection Service took the resignation offer while more than 1,000 Farm Service Agency and county office employees also said they'd depart, even though Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that their resignations wouldn't be accepted, according to reporting from Politico. An additional 2,408 staffers are leaving the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the second round of deferred resignation offers, per the outlet. The first opportunity for employees to willingly leave came on the heels of President Trump's inauguration in January. USDA is currently made up of 29 agencies and offices with nearly 100,000 employees who serve at more than 4,500 locations across the country and abroad, according to the agency. Earlier this year, 6,000 probationary staffers were fired but later ordered to be reinstated by a federal board. In February, USDA officials announced they were working to take back the termination notices sent to several employees who assist the federal response efforts to the bird flu (HPAI). 'Although several positions supporting HPAI were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,' the USDA said in a statement to The Hill's sister station NewsNation at the time. 'USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission,' the statement continued. The resignations come after USDA announced a $1 billion cut to local food programs sponsored by the department amid calls for White House officials to also help lower the cost of eggs. Rollins, earlier this week, pledged to bring about a price drop in the coming weeks while boosting foreign agricultural opportunities. 'It is going to be a new era of market expansion around the world, and our team is so committed to that,' Rollins said Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union.' Rollins added that she would be making visits to the U.K., Japan and Brazil over the next several months to open up trade to new countries as business with China is scaled back amid the Trump administration's trade war. Filip Timotija contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
At least 15,000 USDA employees accept voluntary resignation offer
Thousands of employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) accepted the Trump administration's voluntary resignation offer, leading to a significant reduction in force. The decrease accounts for about 15 percent of the total workforce at the department which regulates food quality, agriculture development and nationwide nutrition efforts. A USDA spokesperson told The Hill that as of May 1, 15,182 employees elected to take a resignation offer. 'Secretary [Brooke] Rollins is working to reorient the department to be more effective and efficient at serving the American people, including by prioritizing farmers, ranchers, and producers. She will not compromise the critical work of the Department,' the spokesperson said. 'As part of this reorientation, the Deferred Retirement Program (DRP), a completely voluntary tool, was used to empower employees to decide what is best for them,' they added. The spokesperson said the Biden administration hired a large number of workers with 'no sustainable' way to pay them. A USDA readout detailed that 555 employees at the Food Safety and Inspection Service took the resignation offer while more than 1,000 Farm Service Agency and county office employees also said they'd depart, even though Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that their resignations wouldn't be accepted, according to reporting from Politico. An additional 2,408 staffers are leaving the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the second round of deferred resignation offers, per the outlet. The first opportunity for employees to willingly leave came on the heels of President Trump's inauguration in January. USDA is currently made up of 29 agencies and offices with nearly 100,000 employees who serve at more than 4,500 locations across the country and abroad, according to the agency. Earlier this year, 6,000 probationary staffers were fired but later ordered to be reinstated by a federal board. In February, USDA officials announced they were working to take back the termination notices sent to several employees who assist the federal response efforts to the bird flu (HPAI). 'Although several positions supporting HPAI were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,' the USDA said in a statement to The Hill's sister station NewsNation at the time. 'USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission,' the statement continued. The resignations come after USDA announced a $1 billion cut to local food programs sponsored by the department amid calls for White House officials to also help lower the cost of eggs. Rollins, earlier this week, pledged to bring about a price drop in the coming weeks while boosting foreign agricultural opportunities. 'It is going to be a new era of market expansion around the world, and our team is so committed to that,' Rollins said Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union.' Rollins added that she would be making visits to the U.K., Japan and Brazil over the next several months to open up trade to new countries as business with China is scaled back amid the Trump administration's trade war.
