U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins announced a reorganization of the department Thursday, designed to refocus its core operations to better align with its founding mission of supporting American farming, ranching, and forestry.
The USDA's workforce increased 8% while employee salaries increased 14.5% over the past four years, despite no increase in service to the department's core constituencies, Rollins said. A review found the USDA was bloated, expensive, and unsustainable, the department said.
"It is long past time the Department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support," said Rollins. "We will do so through a transparent and common-sense process that preserves USDA's critical health and public safety services the American public relies on. We will do right by the great American people who we serve and with respect to the thousands of hardworking USDA employees who so nobly serve their country."
The reorganization consists of four pillars:
- Ensure the size of USDA's workforce aligns with available financial resources and agricultural priorities
- Bring USDA closer to its customers
- Eliminate management layers and bureaucracy
- Consolidate redundant support functions
The USDA said it plans to relocate staff from its agency headquarters to five locations and expects no more than 2,000 employees will remain in its D.C. headquarters. The five hub locations are in Raleigh, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Salt Lake City.
The department has also seen a reduction in its workforce through voluntary retirements. More than 15,000 employees have voluntarily elected deferred resignation, the USDA said.
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