USDA researchers quit in droves as Trump administration plans relocation

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

USDA researchers quit in droves as Trump administration plans relocation

By Ben Guarino May 22 at 2:32 PM

A plan to move Agriculture Department researchers out of Washington, D.C., has thrown two small but influential science agencies into upheaval. Federal employees at the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) have quit in unusually large numbers since August, when Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced he would relocate the offices.

ERS leadership has been conducting final site visits this week of candidate locations, and an “announcement Friday is very likely,” said Peter Winch, an organizer for the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that currently represents ERS workers.

Perdue presented his idea as a money-saving plan that will move scientists closer to “stakeholders” and “customers” such as farmers. ERS is a statistical agency that provides research for lawmakers; NIFA funds hundreds of millions of dollars in agricultural research each year. Each office employs between 200 and 250 people, based on employee estimates. During the Obama administration, NIFA had about 400 workers and ERS had 300.

Former Agriculture Department officials, members of Congress and leaders in the agricultural community have warned that the relocation will weaken the offices and their scientific integrity.

The plan faces several obstacles. The USDA’s inspector general is investigating whether Perdue has the legal authority to relocate the agencies. The House Appropriations Committee’s draft bill of agricultural appropriations for fiscal year 2020, released Wednesday, prohibits the department from using funds for relocations outside the capital area.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/05/22/usda-researchers-quit-droves-trump-administration-plans-relocation/

[Chin music]

1. Sounds like more unemployed people.

trump says best economy ever. huh.

[elleng]

2. Yes, and heckuva lot of work to resurrect, and recover from the damage

after we have a new Dem administration.

[dawg day]

3. Closer to "stakeholders"?

No farms in Virginia, WVa and Maryland?

And these are scientists, not farmhands. They need to be close to their labs and their colleagues, not to farmers.

[bronxiteforever]

4. Kick & recommend for visibility. Incredible waste of taxpayer money.

A Democratic President can undue this quick.

[MBS]

7. yes, the WASTE

of time, as well as money.
Not to mention the fact that the loss of those personnel (and their expertise) from USDA does no good to anyone.

[SCantiGOP]

5. Scary story

I would prefer not to die from tainted food.

[MBS]

6. Yet another stupid idea from a stupid administration

NIFA interacts regularly with, and benefits from its proximity to, other DC-area science labs and federal science agencies. I would guess that ERS also must benefit from its proximity to economists in other agencies and Washington-based NGOs.
Perdue of course understands nothing about this.