U.S. Senators Question USDA Reorganization Plan

Taxpayers could save $4 billion following a major restructuring of the USDA, which includes shifting workers from Washington, D.C. to five regional hubs and ending leases in current offices, according to the agency. How will the changes affect agricultural producers as they already adjust to fewer USDA staff and resources, and what will that mean for the agency’s responsiveness? Those are some of the questions that some United States senators want answered from agency leaders.

The reductions are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce staffing in certain federal agencies and initiatives that President Donald Trump does not prioritize.

The USDA announced last week that it would relocate approximately 2,600 of its 4,600

Washington, D.C.-based employees to these five regional hubs:

• Fort Collins, Colorado

• Indianapolis, Indiana

• Kansas City, Missouri

• Raleigh, North Carolina

• Salt Lake City, Utah

Last Friday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the changes that were underway. The employee relocation is part of a broader effort to downsize the agency’s footprint in the Washington, D.C. area, which the agency said is more expensive than other parts of the country.

Rollins’ news release detailed how she plans to reduce the physical space needed in the nation’s capital.

“USDA will vacate and return to the General Services Administration the South Building, Braddock Place, and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, and revisit utilization and functions in the USDA Whitten Building, Yates Building, and the National Agricultural Library. The George Washington Carver Center will also be utilized until space optimization activities are completed.

These buildings have a backlog of costly deferred maintenance and currently are occupied below the minimum set by law. For example, the South Building has approximately $1.3 billion in deferred maintenance and has an average daily occupancy of less than 1,900 individuals for a building that can house over 6,000 employees.”

USDA Already Set to Lose One in Six Employees

The agency has already lost about 15% of its 100,000 employees through voluntary deferred resignations.

Rollins claimed in her statement that the USDA’s core functions would be preserved.

“We will do so through a transparent and common-sense process that preserves USDA’s critical health and public safety services the American public relies on. 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.”

RELATED: American Farmland Owner shared these plans in May about USDA’s plans to downsize its staffing and what it could mean for agriculture producers.

U.S. Senators Question USDA Relocation Plan to Regional Hubs

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden told members of the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee during a hearing Wednesday that he expects most agency employees who are part of the relocation would choose to move to another part of the country to continue their employment.

“It's hard for me to predict how many will,” Vaden said, “…but I think a significant percent more than a majority will come.” 

Government Executive, a digital publication that tracks the federal government’s agencies, executives, and priorities, pointed out how a previous relocation effort during the first Trump administration led to a sizable number of employees who refused to move, which caused disruptions in service.  

The article stated, “In 2019, the department relocated the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Kansas City, over the objections of employees and some lawmakers. Following the move, both agencies lost more than half of their staff, leading to a significant loss of productivity from which it took the agencies years to recover. Under President Biden, both agencies moved their headquarters back to Washington while maintaining their Kansas City offices.”

U.S. Senator John Boozman, the Republican from Arkansas who chairs the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, said that he appreciates the agency’s focus on cutting expenses but wants to make sure that vital services will continue.

“As we examine the proposal, we need to fully understand its implications for the people USDA serves; especially how reorganization will affect USDA’s boots-on-the-ground presence in rural America and the delivery of essential services,” Boozman said.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the top-ranking Democrat on the committee, also expressed her support for actions that would improve the USDA’s overall service but criticized the agency for not keeping Congress updated on the relocation and downsizing plans.

She called the moves, “a half-baked agenda that will almost certainly result in worse services for farmers, families, and rural communities.”

RELATED: This is why Pennsylvania’s governor is suing because of previous USDA cuts.