USDA staff protest relocation plan and return to office work
USDA employees voiced strong opposition to a reorganization that moves SNAP and nutrition program leadership out of Washington, D.C., and forces a return to in-person work.
During a private online town-hall on May 1, USDA employees expressed strong opposition to the department’s recent reorganization that will relocate SNAP administration to Indianapolis, child nutrition programs to Dallas, and other nutrition services to Kansas City and additional hubs. Participants used the chat to question the logic of moving closer to beneficiaries, cite concerns about working in red states like Texas with strict reproductive-health statutes, and claim that mandatory five-day office attendance breaches existing remote-work and union contracts.
Several staff described the relocation as effectively a reduction-in-force, arguing it fragments a previously integrated organization. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins framed the changes as a way to better serve state, tribal and local partners, yet the agency anticipates a sizable number of resignations and is facing a federal lawsuit over the policy. The move comes amid a SNAP payment error rate of over ten percent for fiscal year 2025. Critics also linked the shift to a broader push by the Trump administration to end remote work for federal employees.
Why it matters
The relocation could disrupt food-assistance services and force many federal workers to quit or relocate.
In this story
