Union locals representing USDA employees are calling on the Trump administration to release a cost-benefit analysis behind the department’s reorganization plan. The plan calls for USDA to relocate thousands of staff from Washington, D.C., to five regional hubs: Raleigh, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Fort Collins, and Salt Lake City. State and local USDA offices would also be consolidated into these regional hubs. Agri-Pulse reports that, in a letter to Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins, the unions are seeking the rationale behind choosing the five hubs where employees are being consolidated.
Among the questions the unions are posing to the department: “How were the hub locations selected? Were other locations considered? Was the cost of this move weighed against alternative uses of funds, such as expanding crop insurance, supporting disaster recovery, or investing in commodity research? Did the Department factor in the costs to the taxpayer of worsened services and decreased oversight resulting from staff losses?
“Without answers, this reorganization appears arbitrary and politically motivated.” The unions also asked USDA to commit to releasing the public comments it has received on the plan. In addition, a group of Northeast Democrats are complaining to Rollins about the impact of the reorganization on their region. In a letter to Rollins, the lawmakers asked, “How will farmers in the northeast be better served by staff hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away? What kind of expertise do staff stationed in the south or west have with the farming practices of farmers in the northeast?” The letter signers include Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.