**USDA Faces Legal Challenge Over Forced Relocation Plans Amid Deep Staffing Cuts**
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is pushing forward with aggressive reorganization plans that could force thousands of employees to relocate across the country or risk losing their jobs. Internal documents reveal the agency is banking on a “significant number” of workers declining geographic reassignment as a strategy to meet drastic workforce reduction targets—sparking legal action from federal unions seeking to halt the moves.
### **Relocation or Resignation: A Difficult Choice for USDA Employees**
Under the USDA’s reorganization plan, first announced in 2024 and expanded this spring, thousands of headquarters staff in Washington, D.C., are being asked to move to one of five regional hubs spread across the nation. Employees received relocation notices earlier this summer and must decide whether to accept transfer—often with just weeks to adjust—or leave their positions voluntarily.
According to court documents filed by federal employee unions, the USDA explicitly anticipates that a high percentage of employees will choose not to relocate. Rather than terminating workers outright, the agency is leveraging this attrition to achieve staffing cuts that would otherwise require direct layoffs—loophole critics say.
### **Legal Pushback Against Reorganization Plans**
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), along with other unions and nonprofit groups, have taken the USDA to court. They are asking a federal judge in San Francisco to issue an injunction blocking the reorganization moves, arguing they violate existing spending laws.
“USDA is using attrition to meet reduction goals in a way that directly conflicts with congressional spending policies,” said AFGE attorneys involved in the case. “Employees are being forced to choose between moving or quitting—and that shouldn’t be the only way to keep working for the government.”
Congress had already weighed in, prohibiting USDA from using appropriated funds for office relocations, reorganizations, or workforce restructuring without explicit legislative approval. Yet unions argue the agency is moving forward in defiance of those directives.
### **Dramatic Cuts Across USDA Programs**
The restructuring isn’t just symbolic. The USDA’s reorganization plan (submitted to the Office of Management and Budget in April 2025) calls for slashing overall staffing by 23%—or 31% when public safety and inspection roles are included. Specific programs face even harsher reductions:
– **Food and Nutrition Service (FNS):** Workforce cuts of at least 46%, with plans to “deemphasize” programs like SNAP (food stamps).
– **Agricultural Research Service:** 43% staffing reduction.
– **National Institute of Food and Agriculture:** 39% cut.
– **Rural Development:** 47% reduction.
– **Foreign Agricultural Service:** 28% cut.
– **Natural Resources Conservation Service:** 34% cut.
– **Forest Service:** 15% cut, with headquarters potentially relocating to Salt Lake City.
Even the Forest Service, which has already started notifying 6,500 employees about possible moves, insists the goal isn’t to push people out—but unions say the effect will be the same.
### **Employee Morale and Program Consequences**
Unions point to previous relocations—most notably during the Trump administration, when hundreds of USDA researchers moved from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City—as precedent for what happens next. Surveys show that roughly 75% of USDA researchers and food assistance workers have no intention of relocating.
“If experienced staff continue to leave, program productivity will plummet,” union representatives warned. “We saw declines in research output after the 2019 relocations. Doing this again on a larger scale will damage USDA’s ability to fulfill its legal mandates.”
### **What Comes Next**
The outcome of the pending lawsuit could determine whether USDA follows through with its reorganization plans—or is forced to scale them back. For now, employees are caught in limbo, unsure whether moving will save their careers or upend their lives.
With federal workforce protections under renewed scrutiny, the case could set a lasting precedent for how executive agencies manage downsizing without direct congressional authorization.
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**Original Article Source:**
Federal News Network – *Agriculture Department counting on employees not relocating to keep jobs, documents show*
https://www.federalnewsnetwork.com/policy-workforce/2025/07/agriculture-department-counting-on-employees-not-relocating-to-keep-their-jobs-documents-show/
