Rep. Fudge decries moving Ag Department
Ohio WASHINGTON, D.C. —
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Cleveland) believes the Trump administration’s proposed move of the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Kansas City from Washington, D.C., is meant to force civil servants from their jobs and is questioning its legality.
Fudge, who chairs the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations, issued a statement critical of the proposed move after a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s inspector general found the administration didn’t follow proper procedures in pursuing the move.
In June, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the relocation of his department divisions that produce agriculture statistics and administer scientific grants, saying it would save at least $300 million over the next 15 years and let his department access talented agriculture professionals in the heartland.
But a report released this week by USDA’s Office of the Inspector General found the Trump administration didn’t follow proper procedures with the move, and its failure to obtain budgetary approval from Congress might jeopardize it.
Fudge released a statement that called the Inspector General’s report “just the latest in a long line of red flags surrounding this relocation.”
“We are alarmed that USDA continues to proceed with this move without consulting Congress or - according to the OIG - following the necessary legal requirements,” said a statement that Fudge released with Virgin Islands Rep. Rep. Stacey Plaskett, who heads a separate agriculture subcommittee. “Couple that with White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney’s comments over the weekend on relocations as a mechanism for staff reduction, and this whole exercise is a naked and shameless attempt to force dedicated civil servants out of their jobs.”
After roughly two-thirds of the workers whose jobs were transferring to Kansas City said they’d rather quit than relocate, Mulvaney described the move as part of a Trump administration effort to “drain the swamp” in Washington.
“It’s nearly impossible to fire a federal worker,” Mulvaney told a Republican Party dinner in South Carolina on Aug. 2. “What a wonderful way to sort of streamline government and do what we haven’t been able to do for a long time.”
Perdue said the considerable taxpayer savings from the move will increase the USDA’s efficiency and improve its ability to retain more employees.
“We will be placing important USDA resources closer to many stakeholders, most of whom live and work far from Washington, D.C.,” said Perdue.