{"id":456,"date":"2026-07-09T11:41:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=456"},"modified":"2026-07-09T11:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:41:24","slug":"unions-sue-to-block-usda-reorganization-arguing-its-a-rif-in-disguise-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=456","title":{"rendered":"Unions sue to block USDA reorganization, arguing it\u2019s a RIF in disguise"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Updated at 11:35 a.m. ET July 8\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A coalition of federal employee labor unions, nonprofits and local governments is asking the courts to halt the Trump administration\u2019s reorganization of the Agriculture Department that entails moving thousands of employees away from the Washington, D.C., area to new regional hubs across the country. The plaintiffs are arguing that the pending employee relocations to other areas of the country are an attempt to downsize USDA\u2019s workforce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Unions sue to restore DOD collective bargaining rights, asserting \u2018chaos\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe actions of this administration to reorganize USDA are a ruse for forcing employees to quit because they work on programs \u2014\u00a0like feeding low-income women and children, protecting our forests or scientific research \u2014 that this administration opposes for political reasons,\u201d said Corinne Johnson \u2014 a partner at Altshuler Berzon, one of the lead co-counsels representing the plaintiffs \u2014\u00a0in a statement. \u201cThat is unlawful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

alleges that the USDA reorganization, which officials began to implement this spring, needs congressional approval, as Agriculture\u2019s fiscal 2026 appropriations bill included a provision blocking officials from relocating offices or employees without authorization from the legislative branch. Specifically, the filing is part of an existing lawsuit challenging the Trump administration\u2019s reorganization of federal agencies more broadly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the attorneys, USDA employees have started to receive letters ordering them to report to new locations by September or October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cUSDA\u2019s actions will force many of the experienced and dedicated employees who run the agency\u2019s programs to leave, thereby gutting programs, interrupting and eliminating the delivery of important services and harming the employees and their families,\u201d they wrote in . \u201cUSDA\u2019s actions will also eliminate locally based services and research. The harms are as certain and as widespread as if USDA had imposed a large-scale reduction-in-force and cut program staff directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

One such letter obtained by Government Executive <\/em>from USDA\u2019s Research, Education and Economics division gave employees until near the end of July to decide whether to accept the relocation assignment. The letter said the department would provide \u201crelocation benefits\u201d but also is offering Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (\u201cearly out\u201d) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (\u201cbuyouts\u201d) to impacted REE employees regardless of whether they\u2019re retirement eligible or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A USDA spokesperson said in a statement to\u00a0Government Executive\u00a0<\/em>that the department “will not comment on pending litigation.” They did not address a question about\u00a0whether the VERA and VSIP offer is available to impacted employees departmentwide.<\/p>\n

Department officials have previously argued that the reorganization would not interrupt \u201ccritical\u201d programs and that moving offices to cities across the country would lead to improved service delivery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to federal workforce data from the Office of Personnel Management, USDA\u2019s workforce has already decreased from more than 98,000 in 2024 to around 77,500 currently.<\/p>\n

This story has been updated with a statement from the Agriculture Department.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Iran War supplemental deepens FY27 budget uncertainty<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A court filing says that impacted employees must report to their new assigned locations across the country by this fall. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management"],"yoast_head":"\nUnions sue to block USDA reorganization, arguing it\u2019s a RIF in disguise - Market Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=456\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unions sue to block USDA reorganization, arguing it\u2019s a RIF in disguise - 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