USDA Announces Major Relocation Plan to Move Staff Out of D.C. and Closer to Rural America

What Happened? 

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiled a sweeping plan to restructure the Department of Agriculture by relocating over half of its Washington, D.C.–based workforce to new regional offices across the country. 

The reorganization will shift approximately 2,600 employees out of the nation’s capital and distribute them across five new USDA hubs located in Raleigh, North Carolina, Kansas City, Missouri, Indianapolis, Indiana, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah.

The department will maintain a core presence of around 2,000 staff in Washington, D.C. But Rollins described the shift as a necessary modernization to make the agency more efficient, less bureaucratic, and closer to the farmers and rural communities it serves. She cited excess real estate costs, underutilized office space, and high federal pay rates in the D.C. area as key reasons for the move.

This relocation echoes a similar effort during Trump’s first term, when research divisions like the Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) were moved to Kansas City. 

That earlier move resulted in significant employee attrition and operational slowdowns. Outcomes the current administration says it is working to avoid this time through phased rollouts and transition support.

Why It Matters

This reorganization is one of the most significant shifts in the federal workforce in years. Many believe that it will increase government responsiveness to the agricultural communities USDA was created to serve, while effectively reducing operating costs and decentralizing a federal agency that is often seen as overly D.C.-centric. 

Rollins and other administration officials have framed the move as a correction to what they see as a long-standing disconnect between policymakers in Washington and the realities of life in rural America.

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The plan could also have big political implications. By relocating high-level staff and decision-makers, the USDA is showing a reshuffling of federal priorities and putting physical proximity to rural constituents ahead of long-standing centralization in the capital. The idea is that this will improve policy by grounding it more directly in on-the-ground experience and regional needs.

However, critics-including federal employee unions, researchers, and some lawmakers-see the move as disruptive and potentially damaging. They warn it may result in mass resignations, loss of institutional expertise, and impaired policy development. 

Past relocations have triggered exactly those outcomes, especially among senior analysts and scientists. Detractors also argue that moving key personnel away from Capitol Hill will weaken USDA’s influence in interagency coordination and reduce its policy leverage within the federal government.

How It Affects You

For farmers, ranchers, or anyone who interacts with USDA programs regularly, this transition will likely result in faster, more localized service, assuming the regional hubs are fully staffed and well supported.

USDA field offices could see more authority and face-to-face engagement with decision-makers, effectively streamline services ranging from crop insurance to loan programs to conservation support.

For those working within the USDA or the wider federal workforce, this move could upend careers. Some employees may choose not to relocate, leading to staffing shortages or operational gaps.

At a structural level, the relocation reinforces a trend in American governance to decentralize federal power away from D.C. to bring institutions closer to the communities they serve. Whether this improves outcomes or fragments federal effectiveness remains to be seen, but the USDA’s reorganization will likely serve as a test case for future attempts to rewire federal bureaucracy.