Jamie L. Whitten Federal building of the US Department of Agriculture in Washington, pictured on December 18, 2017 (photo of the USDA Preston Keres)
Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Thursday that the US Department of Agriculture plans to reduce its presence in Washington, sending employees to five regional centers.
The department wants to reduce the working force in the district of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia from 4600 to less than 2000 and add employees to regional offices in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis; Fort Collins, Colorado; And Salt Lake City.
The department will also maintain the locations of administrative support in Albuquerque, Nowy Mexico and service centers in Minneapolis and agency in St. Louis; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Missoul, Montana, according to memorandum Signed by Rollins.
The efforts that, according to the note, are to last years, will get geographically closer to the voters of farmers, ranch and foresters, said Rollins press release.
“American agriculture feeds, clothes and drives this nation and world, and it has long been a department to serve great and patriotic farmers, ranch and producers to whom we are authorized,” said Rollins.
“President Trump was chosen to make real changes in Washington, and we do it, transferring our key services outside the beltway and to large American cities throughout the country. We will do this through a transparent and widely reasonable process that retains critical health services of the USDA health and public security, which the American audience is.”
US Senator Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, called the announcement “very exciting news for Hoosiers.”
“It’s great to see how these services go beyond DC and to places like Indiana, which feed our nation”, wrote on x.
Top AG Democrat critical
The representative of the American Angie Craig, the highest democrat in the agricultural committee, slammed the plan, saying that this would reduce the working force of the department and that Rollins should consult the congress first before introducing it.
The transfer of the first administration of President Donald Trump about the transfer of the USDA and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture economic research service from Washington caused “brain drainage” in agencies, because 75% of the affected employees will give up, said Craig.
“The expectation of various results for the rest of the USDA is stupid and naive,” she said on Thursday. “Unfortunately, farmers will pay the price by reducing the quality and number of services that they already receive from the department.
She called on the chairman of the Committee, Republican Pennsylvania Glenn “GT” Thompson to carry out a hearing in this matter.
“The fact that the administration did not consult the Congress regarding the planned reorganization of this size is unacceptable,” added Craig. “I call on the chairman of Thompson to carry out the interrogation in this matter as soon as possible, to get answers. We must hear from interested parties and know what data and analyzes used USDA decision -makers to plan this reorganization.”
Pay rates
The USDA edition also referred to the cost of plan costs. The department said that by leading employees out of the high-priced area of Washington, the Department would avoid additional remuneration employees in the region.
Federal employees qualify for increased remuneration based on the costs of living in the city in which they are employed.
Washington has one of the highest rates, increasing the salary for employees in this region by 33%. In addition to Fort Collins, whose employees also earn more than 30% more than basic salary, other cities are from 17% in Salt Lake City to 22% in Raleigh, as released.
The department said that the plan includes the release of several office buildings in the DC area, which are delayed in the case of immense maintenance projects.
The department plans to preserve its presence in (*5*)Federal building Jamie L. Whitten AND YATES buildingboth in DC and National Agricultural Library In Beltsville, Maryland.
It will tardy down Southern building in DC, Braddock Place in Alexandria, Virginia and Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland. The Carver George Washington Centrum in Beltsville will serve as an additional location of the office during reorganization, but it will also be sold or moved after reorganization.
According to the release, each of the USDA areas will still be present in the capital of the country.
But according to the note, the plan includes consolidating several functions in regional offices to “eliminate management and bureaucracy layers.”
Forest service
US Forest Service, a key USDA agency, withdraws its nine regional offices primarily to one location in Fort Collins. According to the note, the Agency will keep a diminutive state office in Alaska and the Eastern Office in Athens, Georgia.
The agricultural research service will also consolidate from 12 offices to five regional centers.
According to the note, a number of support functions would be centralized.
