Trump plan to move USDA spurs brain drain fears

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

09/07/25 6:00 AM ET


A Trump administration plan to remove thousands of agriculture employees from Washington, D.C., is raising concerns among economists, who fear that such a move could erode expertise in a workforce reluctant to relocate. The plan — a cost-saving strategy that would consolidate U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) operations and bring workers closer to their customers — would move 2,600 out of 4,600 D.C.-based employees to five regional hubs.

The administration’s preferred locations include Fort Collins, Colo.; Salt Lake City; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; and Raleigh, N.C. While all of these cities have existing USDA facilities, it remains unclear where each of the department’s many subgroups would be headed. “Some of the issues these agencies are trying to address are national issues,” Chad Hart, a professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University, told The Hill. “Moving it from D.C. to Indianapolis doesn’t necessarily make it easier for an Alabama cotton farmer to get a hold of — or someone who does aquaculture in Maine,” he said.

The USDA’s announcement, which came from Secretary Brooke Rollins at the end of July, justified the move by describing the department’s D.C. headquarters as “plagued by rampant overspending and decades of mismanagement.” Following the reorganization, the USDA said that it expects no more than 2,000 employees to remain in the capital — enabling the department to vacate and return several of its buildings to the General Services Administration.

The move would also enable wage cuts, as the salary surcharge to account for the cost of living in Washington is 34 percent — greater than the 30.5 percent in Fort Collins, 22.2 percent in Raleigh, 19 percent in Kansas City, 18.1 percent in Indianapolis and 17 percent in Salt Lake City, the department noted.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5486924-trump-usda-move-rollins-colorado-indiana-north-carolina/

[Irish_Dem]

1. Moving federal workers is another way to get people to quit.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

3. It is to whiten the federal workforce.

[Irish_Dem]

6. I read that black women are being hit the hardest.

Trump's revenge for Kamala having the nerve to run against the sacred white male.

[dedl67]

17. ... and to humiliate him in a debate

[Irish_Dem]

20. Kamala's sins: she is very smart, a good person, and dedicated public servant.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Oh, the irony of anyone in this maladministration protesting about "mismanagement".

It's sort of a "hold my beer" challenge to them.

[twodogsbarking]

4. The use of "spurs" is subtle but well played.

[quaint]

5. California is top state in agricultural production and economic contribution.

Just sayin'

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. Trump just might consider Bakersfield. Or some other "Trump area".

L.A.? San Francisco? Forget it.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Waitaminute, waitaminute, waitaminute?

A possible re-location to Fort Collins, Colorado?

The Defense Department's U.S. Space Command is relocating from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama b/c TSF is "punishing" the state for mail-in ballot voting.

Moving the USDA seems incongruent, incongruent, and contradictory. So Trump.

[eringer]

18. You are right!

I forwarded your post to the White House. 😃😃😃

[tonekat]

8. They use lies to attempt to justify their chaos

This will serve no purpose, except to make people seek other employment and as was said above, make the workforce less intelligent and blander.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

11. The answer is in the OP ...

"... enabling the department to vacate and return several of its buildings to the General Services Administration."

The Old Man is a real estate guy at heart, and as his dementia progresses his mind (what there is of it) regresses to his earlier years as a developer/landlord. Anything that frees up buildings or land that he can repurpose for more profitable use is attractive to him.

People or the welfare of the nation are not considerations. It's all about the real estate.

What a world, what a world ....

[BumRushDaShow]

12. He also had Muskrat's DOGEshit randonly cancelling leases of federal agencies nationwide

never bothering to research what was going on with them because their "shotgun" approach meant "move fast and break things", and they even wanted to illegally cancel leases of the Judicial Branch.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143384983
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143388684
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143396705
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143405225
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143417944
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143419795
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143422278

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

13. Those leases were paying out ...

...he only wants rent money coming in. Anything going out is a loss, even if it is not really HIS money.

Money out BAD. Money in GOOD. He doesn't sweat (or understand) the details.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. A number of those leases were in buildings that are GSA-owned

so agencies were just paying the government out of appropriated funds from Congress.

[Lionel Mandrake]

10. "Economists ... fear that such a move could erode expertise ... "

Eroding expertise is one of Trump's main goals. Experts are hard to control. They often disobey orders. They speak truth to power. Our would-be dictator won't tolerate such behavior.

[Klondike Kat]

15. "If it ain't broke, then we've got to fix it"

Seems to be the mantra of the current (mal)administration.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. Or more accurately

"If it ain't broke, then we've got to fix break it"

[Miguelito Loveless]

19. Raleigh already short of housing

and this will drive up the prices even more.