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The U.S. Division of Agriculture introduced Thursday it would relocate a lot of its employees within the Washington, D.C., space to 5 regional hubs and vacate a number of buildings within the nation’s capital, together with its flagship analysis middle.
The USDA additionally mentioned it would vacate a number of places within the Washington space, together with its flagship analysis middle, the Beltsville Agricultural Analysis Middle in Maryland, and considered one of its headquarters buildings on the Nationwide 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 mentioned in a press release. “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.
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“We are going to achieve this via a clear and commonsense course of that preserves USDA’s crucial well being and public security providers the American public depends on,” she continued. “We are going to do proper by the good American individuals who we serve and with respect to the 1000’s of hardworking USDA staff who so nobly serve their nation.”
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.
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.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the plan to relocate workers was intended to bring the agency’s staff closer to its “core constituents.” (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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.
“The easiest way to serve our agriculture neighborhood is by working collectively, so it is disappointing USDA did not share its plans upfront of this announcement,” Boozman said.
Craig said the “deliberate reorganization introduced by the agriculture secretary with out discover or enter from Congress or key stakeholders and constituencies demonstrates that this administration did not study the teachings from earlier related efforts and is willfully risking the effectiveness of the businesses and applications that help America’s household farmers.”
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The USDA will vacate several locations in the Washington area, including its flagship research center. (Reuters)
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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.
Additionally, the Forest Service will close its nine regional offices over the next year in a plan that “will think about the continuing fireplace 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 won’t take the [relocation] supply, and we’ll lose much more administrative staff which can be crucial to the on a regular basis functioning of the USDA and ARS,” he mentioned.
Reuters contributed to this report.
