A federal Jude has stopped the USDA from a reorganization that was to close some offices, cut some staff and relocate some others. The stay is in effect for at least two months.
The department’s reorganization efforts stopped Cyclospora research at the Agricultural Research Center just prior to the nation’s largest-ever cyclosporiasis outbreak this summer.
The action by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is in response to a lawsuit filed by unions representing government employees. The lawsuit contends that the USDA’s plans illegally reprogrammed congressional appropriations. Such action can only be taken by Congress.
“Congress did not contemplate USDA using its appropriated funds to shut down offices or relocate employees,” the unions’ motion states. “To the contrary, Congress was actively working to restrict the agency’s ability to do so.”
The court order stalling the USDA’s action runs through Dec. 1. That is the expiration date of the action passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to keep government funded.
When the continuing resolution to keep government operations funded expires, the USDA can attempt to convince Congress not to kill its reorganization plans.
The USDA’s initial reorganization plans were revealed in July 2025. The department announced more plans in April this year, which included the closing of some offices and other facilities. The plans will also require hundreds of employees to relocate from Washington D.C. to offices across the country, which unions say will result in the resignations of hundreds of employees.
Although the reorganization is billed as a way to reduce the number of USDA offices, the reorganization plan calls for a new National Food Safety Center in Urbandale, IA. Under the reorganization plan, the department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service would be moved to the Urbandale office.
Another new facility included in the reorganization plan would house the Agricultural Research Service’s Agricultural Research Center (BARC), now located in Beltsville, MD. The plan calls for the relocation of research programs and employees to facilities across the country, including a new Science Center in Athens, GA.
Other offices and staff that the reorganization plan would relocate include the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Economic Research Service, and the National Agricultural Statistics Service. All of those operations are under the Research, Education, and Economics (REE) umbrella.
Some senators have expressed concern about the plans for the REE operations, raising questions about decreased capacity and the further deterioration of the USDA’s ability to conduct research. Reports on federal employment data since the beginning of the Trump Administration show that the USDA has lost a significant number of employees — in FY 2025 and the beginning of FY 2026, USDA lost more than 20,000 staffers, many of whom held advanced degrees and were veteran employees with valuable technical expertise.
