The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it will relocate about 2,600 jobs out of the D.C. area and vacate the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center building in Prince George’s County. The positions are more than half of the agency’s workforce in the region.
Secretary Brooke Rollins announced USDA reorganization plans in a video Wednesday followed by a written statement Thursday, pointing to a need to “move our key services outside the Beltway” and “closer to the people we serve.”
“USDA’s footprint in the National Capital Region (NCR) is underutilized and redundant, plagued by rampant overspending and decades of mismanagement and costly deferred maintenance. President Trump has made it clear government needs to be scrutinized, and after this thorough review of USDA, the results show a bloated, expensive, and unsustainable organization,” the statement said.
The agency said it has a phased plan to relocate “much of its agency headquarters” and staff in the D.C. area to five locations:
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Salt Lake City, Utah
The USDA has about 4,600 employees in the D.C. area, the agency said.
“Washington, D.C. will still hold functions for every mission area of USDA at the conclusion of this reorganization, but USDA expects no more than 2,000 employees will remain in the NCR,” the statement said.
The agency will “vacate and return to the General Services Administration the South Building, Braddock Place, and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, and revisit utilization and functions in the USDA Whitten Building, Yates Building, and the National Agricultural Library.”
The USDA has fired and laid off workers since President Donald Trump took office and accidentally fired some employees who were working to respond to bird flu, NBC News reported this winter. More than 15,000 employees chose to leave via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) deferred resignation program.
Employees can expect information on their relocation in the coming months, Rollins said. She said she empathized with how major a cross-country move would be for many employees and their families.
“I sincerely hope you will consider staying part of our USDA team as we move into this exciting next chapter of this storied department,” she said.
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
