USDA Employees Face Pay Cuts and Forced Relocations in Controversial Restructuring Plan
In a sweeping move that's sending shockwaves through federal agencies, thousands of employees at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are being hit with salary cuts and mandatory relocations out of the Washington DC area. This bold restructuring, championed by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, is being framed as a cost-saving measure — but critics warn it could devastate support for American farmers and hinder wildfire response efforts.
Outlined in a Thursday memorandum, Rollins detailed the “key pillars” of this overhaul: cutting financial waste, pulling operations out of DC, slashing bureaucracy, and consolidating workforces that handle everything from tribal relations to freedom of information requests.
More than half of the USDA's DC-based workforce will now be shuffled to five cities: Raleigh (North Carolina), Kansas City (Missouri), Indianapolis (Indiana), Fort Collins (Colorado), and Salt Lake City (Utah). Meanwhile, several core USDA offices in the capital region will be shuttered altogether.
This move is the latest chapter in the Trump 2.0 agenda, which has prioritized federal government downsizing in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy elite, including the president’s own billionaire donors.
“President Trump was elected to shake up Washington — and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Rollins declared. “By moving our key services out to the heartland, we’re getting back to serving the American people in the most transparent, efficient way possible.”
During a video briefing, USDA employees were informed they would soon receive new job assignments — and new home addresses — as the transition rolls out over the coming months.
Currently, around 90% of the USDA’s nearly 100,000 employees already operate from regional offices like research centers, conservation hubs, and loan facilities. This overhaul will leave just 2,000 workers in DC — less than half the current 4,600.
To further consolidate operations, the USDA plans to merge regional offices into centralized "hubs" wherever feasible.
According to Rollins, these sweeping changes are about refocusing on the USDA’s “core constituents” — namely farmers, ranchers, and producers — and eliminating unnecessary red tape. But experts argue the opposite: the move will cripple the USDA’s ability to function, especially in departments serving civil rights and disadvantaged small businesses.
These cuts come on top of the earlier dismantling of Biden-era agricultural programs, research grants, and vital staffing, leaving many farmers reeling amid trade turmoil and climate disasters.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, slammed the plan as a “half-baked proposal,” calling for urgent Congressional hearings before more damage is done. “This kind of reorganization will undermine trusted expertise and delay delivery of critical services,” she said.
Others echoed her concern. Rebecca Wolf, a senior analyst with Food & Water Watch, said, “This plan guts the government's ability to protect public health, food safety, and the environment — and Americans will feel the consequences.”
Though Rollins touted this as a cost-cutting measure, many relocated employees will face pay cuts, due to lower local salaries outside the capital. But specifics on the transition — especially for key agencies like the US Forest Service (USFS) — remain unclear.
The USFS, which operates under the USDA and runs the nation’s largest firefighting force, is already short-staffed. As wildfires rage nationwide, this lack of clarity couldn’t come at a worse time.
Despite Rollins’ assurance that fire operations would remain supported, many fear the reorganization could cripple wildfire response efforts, especially as fire risks escalate and previous cuts have already hollowed out mitigation programs.
Under Trump’s plan to shrink government, many federal agencies — including the USDA — relied on early retirements and voluntary exits. That strategy backfired. Nearly 1,400 fire-qualified employees left, gutting teams that handle emergency response at peak season. Rollins recently called on them to return, but just 65 have been reinstated so far.
Even more drastic: the USDA will shut down all nine USFS regional offices over the next year, rolling all research stations into a single facility in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Experts are baffled. Riva Duncan, retired USFS fire officer and VP of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, warned that consolidating stations could strip away localized expertise critical for fire research.
“This is another decision made by people who clearly don’t understand the work,” she said.
There’s also speculation that this reorganization aligns with Trump’s dormant plan to merge all federal firefighters under the Department of the Interior. But that plan stalled after the House appropriations committee raised red flags about performance issues, and a full Government Accountability Office (GAO) review is now underway.
As the House adjourns until September, no budget votes are expected — leaving these controversial changes to simmer.
So far, over 15,300 USDA employees have left since Trump’s return to office, encouraged by buyouts and resignations pushed by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency — a shadowy initiative led by Elon Musk, one of Trump’s top donors.
“Let’s be clear — this isn’t a reorganization, it’s a dismantling,” said Ben Lilliston, director of Rural Strategies and Climate Change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. “This relocation will be expensive, cause mass resignations, and severely weaken USDA’s capacity.”
Lilliston also criticized the lack of input from Congress, the public, and farmers, saying this decision was made behind closed doors.
A previous relocation effort during Trump’s first term resulted in a USDA workforce that was smaller, slower, and less diverse, according to the GAO.
While the USDA expanded under Biden — growing by 8% in staff and 15% in salaries thanks to temporary funding — Rollins confirmed Thursday that the cuts are far from over.
“This reorganization,” she wrote, “is part of our ongoing efforts to shrink the workforce, with early retirements and voluntary resignations still on the table.”