Judge Weighs Whether to Block USDA Relocations as Congress’ Role Comes Under Scrutiny

A federal judge is weighing whether to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from relocating thousands of employees. A key issue in this case: how much authority Congress and its appropriations committees have over the agency’s reorganization plans. 

During a recent hearing, U.S. District Judge Vincent Chhabria of the Northern District of California told the administration and unions challenging the relocations that he’s “not firmly decided as to whether I'm going to grant the preliminary injunction motion or not.”

However, he did extend an administrative stay until October 13, temporarily putting a hold on deadlines for all “management directed reassignment” letters.

At stake are some 2,600 positions that USDA is attempting to move out of the Washington, DC, area, to various regional hubs.

Congress’ Role in Focus

According to GovExec, Judge Chhabria spent much of the hearing questioning the role of Congress, and how much authority it has over USDA’s reorganization decisions.

This comes after Congress included a provision in the FY 2026 agriculture appropriations bill requiring approval from the House and Senate appropriations committees before USDA can reorganize or relocate offices or employees.

“I think what carries the greatest weight is the actual language of the appropriations legislation, which says you can't do this,” said Judge Chhabria. “The default is that you’re not allowed to do it.”

However, Judge Chhabria also questioned whether the committee-approval requirement is constitutional, calling the mechanism “obviously unconstitutional.”

“If Congress knows full well that the committee permission provision is unconstitutional, then is there an argument for just treating it as if it never happened? As if Congress did nothing to ratchet up the restriction on agency action?” he said.

The judge also questioned whether USDA has thoroughly considered the relocation’s impact on attrition and whether the agency will retrain enough employees to deliver on its mission.

While labor unions say the USDA’s plan violates Congress’ intent, the Trump administration insists it has legal authority to proceed with the reorganization.

“The agency has not considered itself bound to accept congressional approval in order to proceed,” said Department of Justice attorney Taylor Pitz.

DOJ also argued that Congress had another opportunity to block the relocations when it approved the continuing resolution to fund the government through December 11 but chose not to.