The Agriculture Department’s plan to shutter offices and relocate more than 2,000 workers across the country shows a “complete lack of respect” for employees, Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee said Wednesday.
In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, committee Democrats said USDA is overlooking the shortcomings of its last major shakeup — the relocation of two research agencies during the first Trump administration — and leaving many questions about its plans unanswered.
The lawmakers, led by ranking Democrat Angie Craig of Minnesota, questioned much of the department’s stated rationale for the plan, adding that the Government Accountability Office had found flaws with the research agencies’ moves.
“To proceed in this manner while ignoring both the actual results from previous similar relocation/reorganization efforts and the multiple findings and recommendations by GAO regarding such earlier efforts demonstrates such a high level of indifference as to show a complete lack of respect for the hard working men and women of the Department and the Americans who depend on its services, particularly our farmers and ranchers,” the lawmakers said.
