Trump forcing USDA workers out of D.C.

Donald Trump‘s administration plans to force thousands of U.S. Department of Agriculture employees to relocate to offices across the country if they wish to keep their jobs, dramatically reducing the agency’s Washington, D.C., area workforce. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the plan, saying the move would “better align” the department “with its founding mission of supporting American farming, ranching and forestry.”

USDA employees

According to Rollins, the USDA currently employs about 4,600 workers in the D.C. area. Once the transition is complete, that number will drop to “no more than 2,000.” Most of the department’s buildings in the capital region, including a major research facility, will be closed. Employees would be transferred to “hub” locations in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah. In a video message to staff, Rollins acknowledged the toll the change could take. “This decision was not entered into lightly,” she said, noting the “personal disruption for you and your families.”

Trump’s White House

Union leaders swiftly condemned the plan. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, argued the relocation would harm the USDA’s mission. He emphasized that 85% of federal employees already live outside the Washington region. “But D.C. is the center of our nation’s government for a reason, as it facilitates needed coordination between senior leadership and field offices and ensures agencies are at the seat of the table when decisions are made at the White House and in Congress,” Kelley said. He called the planned closure of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland “particularly misguided,” describing it as a “crown jewel” of critical research. “I’m concerned this reorganization is just the latest attempt to eliminate USDA workers and minimize their critical work,” he said.

Trump’s moves

The move echoes a controversial 2019 plan during Trump’s first term when then-Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue relocated two USDA agencies to Kansas City, citing cost savings and a desire to place employees in the heartland. That shift prompted widespread resignations, weakened morale and spurred a successful unionization effort among staff. Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director at the time, later boasted about the high number of resignations. USDA employees said the abrupt departures left significant gaps in expertise. “We had a lot of people who had spent their careers working on very specific fields — very niche questions,” one economist recalled. “And when they left, it was so sudden and abrupt that there wasn’t time to bring in the next generation. You had to just leave all of your work and go.”

‘Real change’

Rollins argued the latest relocation plan will strengthen the department’s work. “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,” she said. Critics view the plan as part of a broader effort to weaken the federal workforce. Since January, the administration has sought to push employees out through terminations and early retirements or by creating difficult working conditions. Earlier this year, more than 15,000 USDA workers accepted what the administration termed a “deferred resignation” proposal, leading to concerns about the agency’s ability to enforce food safety, oversee agricultural programs and conduct vital research. The losses were so severe that USDA leaders urged some departing employees to reconsider.

The post Trump forcing USDA workers out of D.C. appeared first on Knewz.