A federal judge last week said he would pause the forced relocation of U.S. Department of Agriculture employees following the filing of a new lawsuit challenging the agency’s reorganization plan.
AFGE and three other unions representing USDA employees, joined by nonprofit organizations and cities and counties from across the country, filed the new lawsuit Sept. 8 to stop the Trump administration from implementing an unlawful reorganization of the department.
Just two days later, U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria from the Northern District of California said he would be issuing an order within days to pause the moves of many employees who are facing relocation until Oct. 2, after a hearing on the lawsuit is held Sept. 29.
“On behalf of the tens of thousands of USDA employees AFGE represents, I thank the court for putting an immediate halt to this illegal and disruptive reorganization until we have our day in court,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “USDA employees keep our food safe, stand behind our farmers, make sure our children are fed, and keep thousands of American businesses running. Instead of investing in these public servants, this administration wants to dismantle the USDA and gut the workforce that our country depends on.”
Although AFGE and other parties previously had challenged the USDA reorganization as part of a larger lawsuit against the Trump administration’s unlawful actions to reshape the government, the federal judge in that lawsuit ruled Sept. 2 that our claims merited their own case.
The new complaint was filed by four unions representing USDA employees affected by the reorganization: AFGE; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME); the National Federation of Federal Employees, IAM, AFL-CIO (NFFE); and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). Joining the unions in the lawsuit are the County of Santa Clara, California; the City and County of San Francisco, California; Prince George’s County, Maryland; the Alliance of Crop, Soil and Environmental Science Societies; the American Geophysical Union; the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks; NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council); and Western Watersheds Project. Altshuler Berzon LLP and Democracy Forward are lead counsel and represent the unions and most other plaintiffs.
USDA and Secretary Brooke Rollins have proceeded with its reorganization plan despite Congress expressly prohibiting such action absent congressional approval. USDA has already begun forcing employees to choose between forced relocation or the loss of their jobs.
USDA’s unlawful plan would close or sharply cut capacity at offices and facilities across the department. It would gut the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, the nation’s premier agricultural research facility. It moves the Forest Service headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, closes all nine Forest Service regional offices, and shuts 23 research locations across 15 states. The plan would close five of seven regional offices of the Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA) and require employees to relocate across the country, undermining the efficient administration of critical nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. It also ships Foreign Agricultural Service employees – whose work focuses on international trade – to Kansas City and relocates Rural Development and Farm Production and Conservation national functions away from the national capital region.
These cuts will make the food on American tables less safe, wildfires harder to fight, and rural communities wait longer for help, all while leaving farmers with less support. The lawsuit alleges that USDA knew forced relocation would drive out its experienced people and never once studied what losing that expertise would do to the department’s ability to meet its statutory obligations.
“This illegal reorganization will jeopardize families’ access to food and eliminate the jobs of qualified public service workers,” said AFSCME President Patrick Moran. “Instead of addressing the cost-of-living crisis that is making life unaffordable, the administration is attempting to gut the agency that supports rural communities and strengthens our food supply. We are filing this lawsuit to protect these workers who provide essential services to communities across the country.”
A federal judge last week said he would pause the forced relocation of U.S. Department of Agriculture employees following the filing of a new lawsuit challenging the agency’s reorganization plan.
Read More
AFGE leaders are warning that the Trump administration’s plans for a major reorganization of the National Park Service will worsen existing staffing and resource shortages and make it harder for federal employees to maintain our nation’s natural and cultural resources.
Read More
The outcome of the congressional mid-term elections on Nov. 3 will affect no one quite like federal and D.C. government workers.
Read More
