The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it will relocate about 2,600 jobs out of the D.C. area and vacate the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center building in Prince George’s County. The positions are more than half of the agency’s workforce in the region.
Secretary Brooke Rollins announced USDA reorganization plans in a video Wednesday followed by a written statement Thursday, pointing to a need to “move our key services outside the Beltway” and “closer to the people we serve.”
“USDA’s footprint in the National Capital Region (NCR) is underutilized and redundant, plagued by rampant overspending and decades of mismanagement and costly deferred maintenance. President Trump has made it clear government needs to be scrutinized, and after this thorough review of USDA, the results show a bloated, expensive, and unsustainable organization,” the statement said.
The agency said it has a phased plan to relocate “much of its agency headquarters” and staff in the D.C. area to five locations:
* Raleigh, North Carolina
* Kansas City, Missouri
* Indianapolis, Indiana
* Fort Collins, Colorado
* Salt Lake City, Utah
