Last week, the Trump administration unveiled a sweeping restructuring plan for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), proposing significant reductions and relocations that immediately sparked concern among federal workers represented by AFGE.
AFGE expressed its strong opposition to the Trump administration’s plans to reorganize the U.S. Department of Agriculture and relocate more than half of its Washington-area workforce.
In a letter sent to the heads of the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee ahead of their hearing to review the USDA reorganization proposal, AFGE National President Everett Kelley said the forced relocation of employees at agencies including the Economic Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center will pose “a direct and catastrophic threat to our nation's food supply, to the farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural interests who rely on the Department for a multitude of services."
“This is not simply a geographic reshuffling. This is a dismantling of our nation’s capacity to serve its farmers, protect its food, and respond to climate and economic crises with scientific precision and public accountability. It is a decision that places ideology over integrity, and politics over the people who depend on USDA’s critical mission,” Kelley said in the letter.
AFGE will continue to fight against the reorganization and restructuring of USDA.
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