World News

Workforce cut: Over 15,000 USDA employees accept Trump’s financial incentives to resign

More than 15,000 employees from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have accepted financial incentives offered by the Trump administration to leave the agency, according to a USDA briefing with congressional staff. This represents about 15% of the USDA’s workforce.

The program, designed to shrink the federal workforce, offers employees several months of pay and benefits. At the USDA, 3,877 staff signed up in February under the first Deferred Resignation Program, and 11,305 more joined in April, totaling 15,182 resignations.

The number could rise, as some employees, particularly those over 40, have more time to decide. Additionally, some who opted to leave have not yet signed contracts.

A USDA spokesperson confirmed the total number of resignations, adding that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is focused on making the agency more efficient. To ensure critical functions continue, Rollins exempted 53 position classifications from the ongoing federal hiring freeze, including wildland firefighters, veterinarians, and food safety inspectors.

Since the start of Trump’s second term, over 260,000 federal workers have been either fired, retired early, earmarked for termination, or accepted buyouts. This represents roughly 10% of the federal workforce.

Among those leaving the USDA are 674 county employees from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), who work directly with farmers, and 2,408 employees from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Rollins assured that frontline staff at FSA would not be impacted by the cuts.

The departure also includes 555 employees from the Food Safety Inspection Service, which ensures the safety of the U.S. meat, poultry, and egg supply. Some of the 1,377 staff leaving the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service could affect the agency’s response to bird flu.

Across federal agencies, many employees opted for the second round of financial incentives, citing exhaustion and uncertainty about potential job losses.

(Reuters)