FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 02, 2026
July 02, 2026
Contact:
Tim Kauffman
202-374-6491
[email protected]
Labor Unions, Nonprofits, Cities, and Counties Seek Injunction to Stop Impending U.S. Department of Agriculture Reorganization
Categories:
USDA
Supplemental Complaint and Preliminary Injunction Motion Filed in Case Challenging Unlawful Reshaping of Government Targets “Reorganization” of USDA
San Francisco – A broad coalition of nationwide labor unions, non-profit organizations, and cities and counties from across the country moved for injunctive relief in their challenge to the massive Trump-Vance administration effort to unlawfully reorganize the federal government, reduce the government workforce, and harm the government’s ability to deliver vital services to families across the country. This action is necessary to prevent mass staff departures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), represented by union plaintiffs American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), that would leave the department unable to fulfill its essential functions.
The plaintiffs in AFGE v. Trump are challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful reorganization of the federal government without legislative authority. The coalition fighting against unlawful government reorganization plans includes AFGE and four AFGE locals; AFSCME; Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and SEIU Local 1000; Alliance for Retired Americans; American Geophysical Union; American Public Health Association; Center for Taxpayer Rights; Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks; Common Defense; Main Street Alliance; NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council); Northeast Organic Farming Association Inc.; VoteVets; Western Watersheds Project; City and County of San Francisco, California; County of Santa Clara, California; City of Chicago, Illinois; City of Baltimore, Maryland; Harris County, Texas; and King County, Washington.
The filing in AFGE v. Trump draws attention to recently-implemented actions to disrupt USDA by forcing office relocations and mass resignations at the department. Reflecting the massive impact of these plans on communities across the country, this filing adds a trio of plaintiffs that will be directly and irreparably harmed by the unlawful USDA reorganization, including the National WIC Association (NWA), a membership organization that represents more than 10,000 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) professionals nationwide, including staff at state, tribal, and local WIC agencies, as well as WIC clinic staff; Prince George’s County, Maryland, which is home to the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center; and the Alliance of Crop, Soil and Environmental Science Societies (the Alliance), a nonprofit organization that manages and supports three membership associations: the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, whose approximately 7,500 members includes USDA employees. The coalition is represented in the case by lead co-counsel Democracy Forward and Altshuler Berzon LLP, along with Protect Democracy, Public Rights Project, and Democracy Defenders Fund, and counsel for local governments.
“WIC is one of the most effective public health programs in the United States. For over 50 years, WIC has helped reduce infant mortality, improve maternal health, and ensure that low-income moms, babies, and young children have access to nutrition support during the most critical stages of development,” said Georgia Machell, President & CEO of NWA. “But WIC only works because of the close partnership between state and local WIC providers and USDA’s federal staff at the national and regional levels. A reorganization that reduces or disrupts federal expertise would not increase efficiency, responsiveness, or service quality; instead, it would directly weaken the systems families rely on to access care, nutrition, breastfeeding support, and trusted guidance. The administration must not be allowed to move forward with a plan that will decimate the federal staff and infrastructure that makes WIC work for millions of families across the country.”
“Prince George’s County has been the proud home of the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) for over 115 years,” said Prince George’s County Executive Aisha N. Braveboy. “BARC has produced innovative and groundbreaking research that has greatly improved food safety, human nutrition and livestock genetics. A significant portion of Prince George’s County’s economy has developed around BARC and we believe that approximately 1,000 jobs at BARC and in the surrounding community would be lost with BARC’s permanent closure. BARC is critically important to Prince George’s County’s Economy. BARC is a pillar of our community that promotes jobs, innovation and opportunity within the agriculture industry. We believe that the Trump Administration’s attempt to permanently shut down BARC and relocate its staff outside of Prince George’s County is unlawful and we are joining this lawsuit to protect our economy, County residents that work in and around BARC, and the important research that is conducted in our County.”
“USDA employees keep our food safe, stand behind our farmers, make sure our children are fed, and keep thousands of American businesses running. They live and work in communities all across this country. This administration keeps showing it won’t look out for Americans, pushing an unlawful reorganization of USDA that would gut the workforce our country depends on,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “AFGE is proud that these public servants have a collective voice through AFGE, and we are proud to help lead the fight to stop this unlawful reorganization. No administration gets to break the law to dismantle an agency that feeds this nation.”
“From helping our farmers get their products to market, to assisting with farm loans and providing infrastructure improvements in rural communities, to protecting American agricultural exports through the Foreign Agricultural Service, the AFSCME members targeted by this ‘reorganization’ provide essential services that strengthen rural communities and support America’s food supply,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “This administration is trying to gut the agency that helps farmers stay in business and puts food on working families’ tables so it can hand out even more tax cuts to billionaires. We will continue fighting for these public service workers and the farmers, families, and communities across the country who rely on the services they provide every day.”
Earlier this year, USDA began taking action to implement a Reorganization Plan that would restructure and downsize the agency across many different issue areas and sub-agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, the Food and Nutrition Administration, Agricultural Research Service, Economic Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Farm Production and Conservation mission area (which include the Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service), Rural Development mission area, and the Foreign Agricultural Service.
USDA sought authorization for the actions in this Reorganization Plan through the budget process for Fiscal Year 2026. However, Congress not only rejected this process, but additionally specifically directed USDA not to take actions restructuring the agency or downsizing staff without further congressional approval. USDA has not obtained such approval. Still, USDA officials are continuing to push forward with an unlawful Reorganization Plan, implementing actions that have harmed and will continue to harm USDA employees impacted by the restructuring and the farmers, families, and communities who rely on them to execute USDA’s mission.
“The Trump Administration’s unlawful government reorganization is part of their ongoing war on science. It undercuts the essential science undertaken by many of the Agencies to better understand and protect America’s unique natural history and resources. Some of my colleagues provided the court with clear examples of how these moves stifle essential research in forestry and soil science, illustrating the wide and damaging impacts these cuts would have if allowed to move forward,” said Garett Rose, senior attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council).
“The government workers threatened by the Trump Administration are essential to so many of the programs and policies that fight chronic food insecurity, manage environmental challenges, and otherwise promote the well-being of all Baltimoreans. Gutting the organizations that manage our social safety net will do nothing but create more economic precarity and vulnerability all across the country. Baltimore stands with Democracy Forward, labor unions, and local governments to challenge the President’s continued lawlessness,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott.
“Government workers reflect the spirit of service our nation is built on, and a lifeline for families in need. Trump’s pernicious attempts to restructure and push specially trained and certified government employees out of an agency–that in our County alone, serves tens of thousands of mothers and children annually–would have serious consequences for vulnerable families across the country. My office stands alongside Democracy Forward, our labor unions, and local governments across the country in asking the court to block this action,” said Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin.
This is the second supplement to the original complaint filed in 2025. On January 28, 2026, the coalition filed a supplemental complaint challenging the unlawful and drastic reduction of staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), leaving the agency unable to adequately prepare for or respond to natural disasters and other emergencies, placing lives and property at risk and undermining the very purpose for which Congress created the agency. After the coalition filed that supplemental complaint, FEMA offered jobs to employees who had been terminated and ceased additional terminations, so the court determined that injunctive relief is unnecessary at this time. But the court has set the claims against FEMA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for expedited summary judgment briefing.
“We thank all of our plaintiffs for showing how this administration’s thoughtless and cruel changes at USDA will have a real and lasting impact on communities across America. By forcing countless employees to relocate across the country for no good reason, the administration is crippling USDA’s ability to do its vital work. More than 40 percent of infants in the country get fed through WIC. As this supplemental complaint shows, USDA’s ‘reorganization’ will put them at risk of going hungry. The closure of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center will mean more disruption in food production and security. These actions are not just heartless, but also clearly unlawful and Democracy Forward is honored to work with this growing coalition to stop harmful efforts to prevent civil servants from doing their jobs,” said Elena Goldstein, Legal Director at Democracy Forward.
Corinne Johnson, Altshuler Berzon partner said: “The actions of this Administration to reorganize USDA are a ruse for forcing employees to quit because they work on programs – like feeding low-income women and children, protecting our forests, or scientific research– that this Administration opposes for political reasons. That is unlawful. Congress, not the President, still determines the mission and functions of federal agencies created by statute, and Congress has repeatedly drawn the line to say no to workforce reductions. On behalf of our clients, we will continue to ask the courts to hold that line.”
“Congress created federal agencies to serve the interests of the American people – not of one man,” said Jules Torti, Counsel at Protect Democracy. “The President simply does not have the authority to unilaterally reorganize and change our government without Congress’s involvement.
“This administration cannot keep sidestepping Congress to reshape the government on its own. Cities and counties rely on USDA to help feed families, support farmers, and respond to environmental challenges. When that support is disrupted, communities bear the consequences,” said Jonathan Miller, Chief Program Officer at Public Rights Project.
“Millions of families across the country rely on the essential services provided by hardworking USDA employees,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “By gutting this department, the administration is threatening programs that help children eat, small farms survive, and communities function. We’re going to court because these mass layoffs would leave more families without the support they need.”
The legal team at Democracy Forward working on the matter includes Andrea Matthews, Tsuki Hoshijima, Gregory Cumming, and Elena Goldstein.
For more on this case, please click here.
To read the filed supplemental complaint, please click here, and to read the memorandum in support of preliminary injunction, please click here.
For more resources for civil servants facing retaliatory dismissal, please visit civilservicestrong.org.
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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.
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