Court Temporarily Halts USDA’s Planned Reorganization
A federal court has barred the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from moving forward with its planned reorganization, which includes shuttering of existing offices and relocating staffers based in the Mid-Atlantic to regional locations across the U.S., for at least two months.
As a result of a lawsuit filed by trade unions representing government employees, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a motion for stay while litigation is pending on the basis that USDA unlawfully “reprogrammed” congressional appropriations (i.e., used funds for a purpose not considered by Congress at the time appropriations were made) to shut down offices and relocate employees.
“Congress did not contemplate USDA using its appropriated funds to shut down offices or relocate employees,” the motion stated. “To the contrary, Congress was actively working to restrict the agency’s ability to do so.”
Relief From Reorganization May Be Short
However, this court-ordered pause on relocation activities is only valid through December 11, 2026—the expiration date of the continuing resolution (H.R. 6500) passed to keep the government funded while Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 appropriations acts are deliberated by Congress. If FY 2027 appropriations are not passed by December 11, Congress will presumably consider another continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown.
The motion emphasized that “the temporal scope of this relief [offered by the stay] could end up being quite short,” because, when the relevant appropriations statutes expire in less than two months, USDA will then have the “opportunity to convince Congress of the merits of [its relocation] plans. Congress, if it agrees, can choose not to extend the restrictions at issue in this case.”
Context: USDA’s Planned Reorganization
USDA announced reorganization plans in July 2025, with additional details revealed in April 2026, involving the decommissioning of some facilities, the opening of new facilities, and the relocation of hundreds of Washington D.C.-based positions in various departments to locations across the U.S.
Notably, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (USDA-FSIS’) support headquarters are set to be relocated from the Washington D.C. area to a new National Food Safety Center in Urbandale, Iowa, forcing the relocation (or resignation) of some 200 USDA-FSIS staffers.
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The reorganization plan also includes the decommissioning of the Agricultural Research Service’s (USDA-ARS’) Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, Maryland, and relocation of research programs (and researchers) to facilities across the country, including a new Science Center in Athens, Georgia.
Other offices that will be relocated include the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Economic Research Service (ERS), and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS); which all fall under the Research, Education, and Economics (REE) Mission Area. Senators have already questioned USDA’s plans for REE offices and employees under the reorganization, raising concerns about “decreased agency capacity, further deteriorating the Department’s ability to conduct research, administer funding, and produce timely and reliable data products.”
Reorganization Could Worsen Workforce Attrition, ‘Brain Drain’
Analyses of federal employment data show that USDA has already suffered steep workforce attrition and “brain drain” because of early Trump Administration initiatives—including a hiring freeze, early retirement incentives, reductions in force (RIFs), and the Deferred Resignation Program. In FY 2025 and the beginning of FY 2026, USDA lost more than 20,000 staffers, many of whom were advanced degree-holders and veteran employees possessing institutional knowledge and technical expertise.
Various stakeholders have predicted that USDA’s planned reorganization will further exacerbate the agency’s loss of qualified and experienced staffers as they choose to resign rather than relocate.
Moreover, USDA’s reorganization efforts reportedly paused Cyclospora research at the scheduled-to-be-shuttered BARC just prior to the nation’s largest-ever cyclosporiasis outbreak.
Update, October 17, 2026: According to the Associated Press, in a call with reporters, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said USDA remains "full-bore ahead" with its reorganization plans, despite the court-ordered pause. When Government Executive asked USDA to clarify Secretary Rollins' statement, an agency spokesperson said, “Her comment speaks for itself... any further responses will be filed with the court, not the press."
