U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced today plans to reorganize the agency, including relocating more than half of Washington, D.C., area staff to regional offices in other parts of the country. This echoes a similar move by the first Trump administration to relocate the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Kansas City, Mo., causing serious setbacks for science and taxpayers.
Below is a statement by Dr. Kate Anderson, director of the Food and Environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“The last time the USDA moved critical functions out of Washington, D.C., the main outcome was a brain drain that hampered the agency’s capacity to deliver evidence‑based support to farmers and the broader food system. When the first Trump administration pushed two research agencies out of Washington, 75% of their staff eventually left their jobs rather than uproot their lives and families. The USDA lost hundreds of experienced scientists, spending millions at the expense of taxpayers and farmers who count on USDA services, with little to no benefit. The relocation was clearly not planned with the needs of USDA science, farmers or taxpayers in mind; it squandered millions of dollars and stalled hundreds of important studies and grants.
“This new plan to relocate thousands of USDA employees will further drain USDA of competent and dedicated public servants. The Trump administration and DOGE already drove out more than 15,000 civil servants at the USDA earlier this year through intimidation and abuse, leading those employees to accept voluntary buyouts rather than stay and face more of the same. Now, USDA can ill afford another exodus of talented public servants. Further losses will undermine the agency’s ability to provide vital programs and technical support to farmers and rural communities who need them, at a time when extreme weather, tariffs and deportations are straining farmers’ ability to stay afloat.”