USDA to relocate more than half of D.C. area employees under reorganization plan
USDA said the reorganization plan will bring employees closer to the communities they serve, and will reduce a headcount that grew over the last four years.
The Agriculture Department is planning to relocate more than half of its Washington, D.C., workforce to regional hubs across the country, as part of agency reorganization plans released Thursday.
The USDA is also letting over 15,000 employees leave the agency later this year, after they accepted deferred resignation and early retirement offers.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said the agency is “not conducting a large-scale workforce reduction” of nonvoluntary layoffs. However, she told employees that the department “will also be reducing some regional office management layers and consolidating duplicate functions.”
USDA says the reorganization plan is meant to bring employees closer to the communities they serve, and will reduce costs for a workforce that grew by thousands of employees under the Biden administration, “with no sustainable way to pay them.” The department, in a press release, said the USDA workforce grew by 8% over the past four years, and that employees’ salaries increased by 14.5%.
“President Trump promised to realign federal spending, eliminate duplication and redundancy, and ensure all agencies are efficiently and effectively delivering services to our constituents,” Rollins told employees in a video message on Thursday. “We are doing just that by moving our key offices’ services outside Washington D.C. to ensure that USDA is located closer to the people we serve.”
USDA, as part of its reorganization plans, will relocate thousands of D.C.-based employees to five hubs across the country, with lower locality pay rates.
- Raleigh, North Carolina (22.24%)
- Kansas City, Missouri (18.97%)
- Indianapolis, Indiana (18.15%)
- Fort Collins, Colorado (30.52%)
- Salt Lake City, Utah (17.06%)
A USDA employee told Federal News Network that career staff were not aware of the reorganization announcement until about 20 minutes before the press release went out to the public.
Rollins told employees in her video message that the reorganization “perhaps creates some personal disruption for you and your families,” but said USDA will “make sure this transition over the coming months is as smooth and as minimally disruptive as possible.”
“We recognize each employee has unique circumstances to consider and any decisions you pursue are personal and yours alone,” Rollins said. “But we stand ready to serve you, to help you through this process, and I sincerely hope you will consider staying part of our USDA team as we move into this exciting next chapter of this storied department.”
About 90% of USDA employees already work outside of the D.C. area. The department said it will carry out the relocation in phases. About 4,600 USDA employees currently work in the national capital region. USDA said it will “still hold functions for every mission area” in D.C., but no more than 2,000 employees will remain in the region.
The D.C. metro area has one of the highest costs of living in the country, with a federal salary locality rate of 33.94%
“In selecting its hub locations, USDA considered where existing concentrations of USDA employees are located and factored in the cost of living,” the agency wrote.
The department also plans to vacate some of its underutilized buildings and return them to the General Services Administration.
USDA said all critical functions will continue “uninterrupted.” The department said it has exceeded its hiring goals for federal firefighters and has exempted firefighting and public safety positions from a governmentwide hiring freeze that’s been extended to Oct. 15.
“These 52 position classifications carry out functions that are critical to the safety and security of the American people, our national forests, and the inspection and safety of the Nation’s agriculture and food supply system,” USDA wrote.
USDA said these positions will not be eliminated, but these “employees may be subject to relocation.”
This is a developing story and will be updated
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