Several hundred federal employees who help keep invasive pests and plant diseases out of the United States have accepted buyout offers from the Trump administration, which could leave the agricultural industry vulnerable to the destruction of valuable crops, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
About 3,000 employees work in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plant Protection and Quarantine division. They inspect luggage at airports and shipments at ports of entry to ensure invasive species stay out of the country. They also survey forests for pests.
As many as 700 employees, including in the agency’s administration and field operations, decided to accept the administration’s resignation offer, said the sources, who requested anonymity over fears of retaliation. High-level administrators at the division, known as PPQ, are also expected to leave.
The losses mean fewer resources will be available to combat harmful pests and diseases that can decimate crops and spell financial disaster for the agriculture economy.
“We have a major loss of institutional knowledge and a loss of new employees who otherwise may have made a long career in PPQ,” said one source, a longtime USDA employee. “That will all affect operations for a long time.”
THE RESIGNATIONS are part of a broader Trump administration effort to drastically downsize and reshape the federal government. Agencies such as the Department of Education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also faced steep job cuts. The USDA is hoping to cut about 30% of its 100,000 workers, according to Politico Pro.
Earlier this year, the USDA offered its workforce its first deferred resignation program, which allowed employees to depart but still be paid for several months. When relatively few took the offer, the USDA terminated employees en masse.
More than 200 employees at PPQ were caught up in the first wave, The New York Times reported in February. The cuts were already causing delays at the nation’s ports, according to the paper.
Soon after, an administrative law judge stopped the mass terminations for 45 days, a pause that ends April 18. A separate court order also halted the terminations, and many USDA employees returned to work.
THE USDA offered a second round of the deferred resignation program, dubbed “DRP 2.0,” on April 1. Employees had until April 8 to accept. Those who accept will be placed on administrative leave by the end of April, according to a mass email from USDA leadership.
While on administrative leave, they will receive pay and benefits until Sept. 30 — effectively being paid by taxpayers not to work. One USDA employee called it a “huge waste” of taxpayer money.
More cuts could be on the way. The USDA is identifying “duplicative” or “redundant” roles that could be eliminated, according to Government Executive. The department is also planning job relocations.
When the USDA moved some of its Washington, D.C. offices to Kansas City, many employees left the department instead of relocating. The relocation mostly affected Black employees, the Government Accountability Office found.
Employees at PPQ inspect billions of pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables each year and have helped stop outbreaks of invasive species that threatened entire industries.
Combating invasive species requires the best science, often from multiple disciplines, the GAO found.
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