AFGE is calling for immediate congressional action to prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from forcing thousands of employees in the D.C. region and beyond to relocate in order to keep their jobs.
Within the past month, USDA has sent relocation notices to employees AFGE represents at the Economic Research Service (ERS), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Notices also have gone out to employees at other USDA components including the U.S. Forest Service and the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
AFGE has been speaking out against these relocation efforts since they were first announced more than a year ago – warning that they will undermine USDA programs and services that are critical for ensuring the safety of our food, the health of our environment, and the economic prosperity of farmers and rural communities.
“Forcing federal employees to move thousands of miles away just to keep their jobs has nothing to do with making USDA operations more efficient or responsive to the public – in fact, it will have the opposite effect, as most workers will quit a job they love rather than uproot themselves and their families,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a press statement issued last week.
“We don’t have to guess what will happen because we went through this during the first Trump administration, when the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture were relocated to Kansas City. Over half of employees resigned or retired, resulting in a massive exodus of experienced scientists and researchers from which the department still hasn’t recovered.”
The administration is targeting even more USDA workers and programs in this latest effort. It’s attempting to yet again relocate the D.C. headquarters for ERS and NIFA but also the Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Agriculture Research Service – including decommissioning the historic Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland that is responsible for award-winning research into improving our agricultural practices.
“Nearly 95% of all USDA employees already work outside of D.C., so it’s clear that this restructuring effort has nothing to do with bringing services closer to the people. This is yet another attempt by this administration to undermine the professional and independent work of federal researchers, data scientists, and food safety inspectors that is clearly not valued or respected,” Kelley said.
The administration is proceeding with this massive reorganization despite Congress including language in the fiscal 2026 appropriations bill expressly prohibiting USDA from reorganizing or relocating any offices or employees unless Congress authorizes it.
In April, Rep. Glenn Ivey, whose Maryland district includes the Beltsville lab, successfully inserted language into the fiscal 2027 appropriations bill for USDA that prevents the department from closing, consolidating, or relocating any laboratories without first analyzing the impact on research and reporting to Congress. That bill is now pending before the full House.
President Kelley urged Congress to take more immediate steps to prevent the USDA from proceeding with any of its reorganization plans.
“On behalf of the tens of thousands of USDA employees our union represents – and in defense of the critical work they deliver for the American people – I urge Congress to immediately intervene and halt this illegal and unapproved relocation,” he said.
The Trump administration is reinstating critical staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This is a key win for AFGE and its allies, who challenged the administration’s unlawful reduction of FEMA’s workforce.
Read More
Noncompetitive pay and benefits are resulting in critical shortages of law enforcement officers across the Department of Veterans Affairs, an AFGE local leader testified before a Senate committee last week.
Read More
With FY26 funding now in place, the House and Senate have turned their attention to the next fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Read More
