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The US Department of Agriculture announced on Thursday that it will move a large part of its staff in the Washington, DC, to five regional hubs and various buildings in the capital of the country, including the flagship research center.
No more than 2,000 USDA employees remain in the Washington area at the end of the reorganization -the office said in a press release. The remaining 2,600 people will be moved to Hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis; Fort Collins, Colorado; And Salt Lake City.
The USDA also said that it will leave different locations in the Washington area, including the flagship research center, the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland and one of the buildings of the head office in the National Mall.
“American agricultural feeds, clothing and feeds this nation and the world, and it is long beyond time that the department is better for the great and patriotic farmers, cattle farmers and producers that we have a mandate to support,” said the agricultural secretary Brooke Rollins in a statement. “President Trump was chosen to make a real change in Washington, and we do exactly that by moving our most important services outside the Beltway and to large American cities throughout the country.
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“We will do this through a transparent and common sense of intent that retains the critical health and public security services of USDA on which the American public trusts,” she continued. “We will do well by the great American people that we serve and with regard to the thousands of hard -working USDA employees who serve their country so noble.”
In a video for the staff, Rollins said that the plan to move employees was made to bring the staff of the office closer to his ‘core voters’.
The USDA’s plan is the last effort of the Trump government to reorganize and reduce the federal workforce.
The agency does not make widespread cuts on its staff, although the relocation plan is part of the USDA process to reduce its workforce, it said in the release.
It said that much of his reduction was through voluntary retirement and the deferred pension program of the Agency. More than 15,000 employees, about 15% of the total workforce, voluntarily chose one of the two financial incentive offers to resign.
Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins said that the plan to move employees was intended to bring the staff of the office closer to his ‘core voters’. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images / Getty image)
The chairman of the Senate agricultural committee, the Republican senator of Arkansas, John Boozman; the ranking, Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar; And the ranking of the House Agriculture Committee, Minnesota Democrat Rep. Angie Craig, said in statements that they had not been consulted about the plan and called for hearings about the reorganization effort.
“The best way to serve our agricultural community is to work together, so it is disappointing that USDA did not shared its plans prior to this announcement,” said Boozman.
Craig said that “the planned reorganization announced by the agricultural secretary without notification or input of the congress or important stakeholders and constituencies, demonstrates that this administration did not learn the lessons from previous similar inspections and deliberately risk the effectiveness of the agencies and programs that the family drivers of Americaa.”
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The USDA will leave various locations in the Washington region, including the flagship research center. (Reuters)
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The USDA is also planning to reduce or close some regional offices, including the consolidation of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, which publishes agricultural market data, from twelve offices to five, according to a memo of the Agency.
Moreover, the Forest Service will close its nine regional offices the following year in a plan that “takes into account the current fire season,” the memo noted.
The staff of the Agricultural Research Service has already struggled with his workload after the voluntary dismissal, according to Ethan Roberts employee.
“Many will be the [relocation] Offer, and we will lose even more administrative employees who are crucial for the daily functioning of the USDA and Ars, “he said.
Reuters has contributed to this report.
