USDA to relocate thousands of employees, consolidate agency functions

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(The Center Square) – In the coming months, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will relocate more than half of its Washington D.C.-based employees to five different regional hubs across the country.

The move is part of USDA’s larger plan “to achieve improved effectiveness and accountability, enhanced services, reduced bureaucracy and cost savings for the American people,” according to the announcement memo.

Approximately 4,600 USDA employees currently reside in D.C., a growth of 8% over the past four years. With a nearly 15% salary increase during that time as well, the Trump administration says the USDA Department Reorganization plan will ensure that the agency can afford its workforce.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins estimates that roughly 2,000 employees will be left in D.C. after the relocations are complete. The other 2,600 will disperse to one of USDA’s five regional hub locations, located in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

The agency also will end some leases and vacate some buildings in the D.C. area, as well as reduce regional office management layers. Core administrative support locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Minneapolis, Minnesota will remain operational.

Additionally, management of civil rights functions, legislative affairs, Freedom of Information Act responses, human resources, and leases will each be consolidated under different offices.

Rollins said the reorganization will bring the USDA “closer to the people it serves.” She intends to ensure that the transition works “as smooth and as minimally disruptive as possible” for affected USDA staff and their families. 

“We will carry out this reorganization through a transparent, common-sense process that preserves USDA’s critical health and safety services that the American public relies on,” Rollins said. “We are embarking on a new chapter that will improve our service to the great patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers that we are mandated to support.”

While most Republicans view the move as a fiscally responsible way to efficiently manage resources, Democrats have blasted it as reckless.

“The planned reorganization announced by the Agriculture Secretary without notice or input from Congress or key stakeholders and constituencies demonstrates that this administration … is willfully risking the effectiveness of the agencies and programs that support America’s family farmers,” House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., said.

Since the second Trump administration took office, 15,364 USDA employees have voluntarily chosen deferred resignation. In 2024, the agency’s workforce numbered nearly 100,000 individuals.