USDA is Hardest-Hit

Regarding specific agencies and sub-agencies relevant to protecting the safety of the U.S. food supply and monitoring and responding to foodborne pathogens and foodborne illness outbreaks:

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lost 19,984 staffers in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and another 2,269 so far in FY 2026. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) was reduced by 874 and 39 personnel in FYs 2025 and 2026, respectively; the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) by 1,932 and 73, respectively; and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) by 2,017 and 15, respectively. Notably, USDA’s workforce has decreased in size more than any other federal agency since 2015, with net losses of more than 17,400 staffers (the vast majority of these losses occurring in 2025–2026).
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was reduced by 3,859 and 473 in FYs 2025 and 2026, respectively.
• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was reduced by 2,499 and 390 in FYs 2025 and 2026, respectively.

Potential Effects of Workforce Losses on Food Safety and Public Health

Since RIFs began shortly after the inauguration of President Trump, food industry stakeholders have shared concerns about how a significantly leaner federal workforce could affect agencies’ ability to safeguard the food supply, monitor pathogens, and respond to illness outbreaks. Worries about “brain drain” have also been expressed, as many of the employees at USDA who have left since January 2025 were veteran staffers and/or held advanced degrees.

Exemplifying the effects that widespread RIFs can have, in April 2025, some FDA food safety scientists, laboratory staff, and inspectors were rehired after their terminations affected day-to-day operations and programs. Similarly, USDA-APHIS reportedly struggled to rehire personnel charged with responding to the current avian influenza H5N1 outbreak.