USDA to Move Half of DC Staff as it Unveils Reorganization

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to relocate more than half of its employees currently in the Washington, DC, area, to five regional hubs as it unveils a major reorganization plan. 

Under the plan, about 2,600 of the approximately 4,600 employees working in the National Capital Region (NRC) will be relocated to five hub locations: Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

The plans would leave no more than 2,000 employees in the DC area. 

The administration says the cities were selected partly for lower cost of living, noting that Washington, DC has a federal locality rate of nearly 34 percent, while the others (except for Fort Collins which is also in the 30s) have rates in the teens and low 20s. 

In addition to the cost savings, the selected hubs already have existing concentrations of USDA personnel. 

The DC-area will still hold functions for every mission area at USDA. 

“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,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “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.”

Secretary Rollins insists there will be no service disruptions throughout the relocation process, which will begin in the coming months but could take time to “implement fully.” Employees will start to learn about whether their job is affected in the next month. 

About 90 percent of the USDA workforce is not based in the NRC. The agency’s overall workforce also shrunk by about 15,000 positions this year, thanks to deferred resignations and voluntary retirement. 

In addition to relocation, USDA is also vacating real estate and returning it to the General Services Administration (GSA). That includes the South Building in Washington, DC, its Braddock Place facility in Alexandria, Virginia, and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland. 

Streamlining Resources

The reorganization includes a streamlining of positions. Employees focusing on communications, finance, budget, human resources, lease administration and grants will all be consolidated into a more streamlined structure. 

And the restructuring will hit various subagencies including the National Forest Service, the Agricultural Research Service, and the Food and Nutrition Service, with those among the agencies losing field offices. 

Reaction from federal labor groups and former officials was swift. 

“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,” said American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President Everett Kelley. “I’m concerned this reorganization is just the latest attempt to eliminate USDA workers and minimize their critical work.”

“These actions will do more than reduce the workforce; they will reduce technical and financial services to farmers and ranchers,” wrote Steven Silverman in GovExec, a law professor who was former director of USDA’s National Appeals Division from 2014-2019 and as USDA’s Principal Deputy General Counsel from 2009-2012.