Senate Ag Questions Vaden on USDA Reorg

WASHINGTON (DTN) -- Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden on Wednesday vigorously defended the Trump administration's proposal to reorganize the Agriculture Department at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing.

"President (Donald) Trump made clear his second term would include relocating the sprawling federal bureaucracy to locations outside the National Capital Region," Vaden said in the testimony. "The department's July 24 memorandum begins to deliver on this promise and does so in a way that right-sizes the USDA footprint, eliminates unnecessary management layers, consolidates redundant or duplicative functions and, most importantly, allows USDA to deliver on its mission to the American people within the bounds of its available financial resources."

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins released a reorganization memorandum on July 24 that includes closing USDA's South Building and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and moving 2,600 of the 4,600 USDA positions in the Washington area to regional hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Vaden submitted one page of testimony but delivered a short opening statement and then spent the next two hours answering questions from members of the committee.

Vaden has been at USDA for only three weeks, but served as USDA general counsel in the first Trump administration. The Rollins memo "delegates to the deputy secretary all authorities necessary to implement the USDA Reorganization Plan."

Asked repeatedly why the Trump administration had not given the committee advance notice of the reorganization, Vaden said that he understands "the consternation" but said "there was a thought behind that. The employees are the ones most affected by the decision; they should hear about it first, not a leak from somewhere else."

Vaden said that a statutorily required 30-day comment period on the reorganization began the day Rollins released the memorandum on reorganization. That means the comment period will end in late August.

Vaden said USDA is conducting the reorganization under a 1953 law.

The No. 1 reason that the Trump administration has chosen the five hub locations is the cost of living, Vaden said. He explained that decision through the "story" of Ralph Linden, currently the USDA acting general counsel. He said Linden had moved to the Washington area in 1982 and bought a house in suburban Virginia. At that time, the other residents were government employees, but today, the houses cost "seven figures," and Linden's neighbors are two-income households composed of doctors, lawyers and lobbyists. (Linden lives in McLean, Virginia, according to his LinkedIn account.)

In the hub communities, government employees will be able to afford homes and "grow and expand their families," Vaden said.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., noted that California is the No. 1 agricultural state but that the nearest hub is in Salt Lake City. Vaden said there is no hub in California because it has a high cost of living.

"We are looking to build the future of USDA," Vaden told Schiff. But Schiff said that with the firings of USDA personnel in California and cuts to programs and grants, "It's hard not to perceive this as a political calculation" to punish California for not voting for Trump.

"That is not the case," Vaden replied, adding that moving employees from Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City means they are closer to California.

The second reason for choosing the hubs is that USDA already has facilities in those places, particularly in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Salt Lake City.

When Rollins released her organization memo, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., said it was "disappointing" that the committee had not been briefed, and he quickly scheduled a hearing. But on Wednesday, Boozman praised Rollins for her performance in the few months she has been on the job.

"I look forward to learning more about how this proposal strengthens USDA's ability to deliver on the ground, support implementation of the farm bill, and serve as a reliable partner to the people it was created to support," Boozman said.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., ranking member on the committee, said, "We have a half-baked agenda that will almost certainly result here in worse services for farmers and families in rural communities."

Klobuchar said she is "extremely concerned about the harm that this reorganization will have on the USDA's research." But Vaden said that only four of USDA's 90 research labs will be closed and that the Beltsville center will be closed over a number of years.

Klobuchar asked Vaden if USDA had consulted with either the American Farm Bureau Federation or the National Farmers Union, but Vaden said the consultation process is occurring after the announcement.

"The first months of this administration do not inspire confidence, given the months of freezes, cancellations, unfreezes, firings, hiring back, lease terminations, firings and subsequent attempts to rehire veterinarians, farm loan officers, and other critical positions," Klobuchar said. "It has injected uncertainty at a time when USDA customers look for certainty and trust."

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who serves as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee as well as on the authorizing committee, said he is concerned about the impact of the reorganization on appropriations. Hoeven also pointed out that all the hubs are at least 600 miles from North Dakota. Hoeven said the committee and USDA can debate about "what is magic" about the hubs -- whether there should be five and why there is a hub in Salt Lake City when there is so little agriculture in Utah.

"Is this a process where we are still going to work together?" Hoeven asked. "Is this a fait accompli?"

Vaden replied that Rollins had given him the authority to make changes that are needed.

Several Republican senators spoke enthusiastically about USDA moving employees to the center of the country.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Vaden, "In your testimony, you were mentioning some of the advantages of moving to some of these communities. And I would just point out that you failed to mention that moving to Kansas City that suddenly you would have the advantage of being a Chiefs fan, rather than suffering through another year here with the Washington Commanders. You failed to mention, to be within an hour of the most storied basketball program in the nation, and just barely two hours away from the first land-grant university in America."

Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., both expressed concerns about the impact of the reorganization on firefighting, but Vaden said the reorganization won't interfere with the Forest Service, a USDA division, during fire season. He also said reorganization will not affect employees who work on disaster relief, although some of them will be asked to move to new locations.

Vaden told Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., that the Foreign Agricultural Service might be among the lesser affected mission areas because its work is "diplomatic," but that he could not guarantee that "there won't be some employee who gets relocated." Moran also noted that the Kansas City USDA commodity office has traditionally played a significant role in Food for Peace, and Vaden noted that all functions in statute will continue.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., spoke at length about the Agricultural Research Service facilities in Stoneville, Mississippi.

Vaden replied, "The fact that the secretary's memorandum indicates that we are removing a level of middle management between the people on the ground, who actually do the work, and the people who ultimately are responsible for overseeing it, does not mean that automatically everyone who's located in a former regional office of an agency will be moved. And with respect to Stoneville, because of the important research that is actually conducted there, I believe at the current time, USDA's plan, subject of course to consultation with you, is for the staff to remain there."

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said he understands a lot of farmers in Pennsylvania vote Republican and that he would speak up for the unionized USDA employees. Fetterman asked Vaden whether USDA will pay relocation expenses for employees who agree to move from Washington to the hubs. Vaden said they would be paid subject to limits imposed by Congress.

After the hearing, the American Federal of Government Employees made public a letter to Boozman and Klobuchar in which the union said: "This is not simply a geographic reshuffling. This is a dismantling of our nation's capacity to serve its farmers, protect its food, and respond to climate and economic crises with scientific precision and public accountability. It is a decision that places ideology over integrity, and politics over the people who depend on USDA's critical mission."

Vaden told Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., that the reorganization plan will save USDA a total of $4 billion -- $2.2 billion in deferred maintenance and $1.9 billion from employees taking deferred resignations. Tuberville also said he hopes that moving Food and Nutrition Service employees to the hubs means they can help the states lower the error rates on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Vaden told Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., that the reorganization will "leave the county-level footprint alone," meaning that neither rural development nor Farm Service Agency offices will be affected.

Vaden also told Smith that the Trump administration is going to "consolidate" tribal functions and civil rights functions because there have been "historical inequities" within agencies. Smith reminded Vaden that relationships with tribes are not the same as with other constituencies because "we have a government-to-government relationship with them."

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., noted that when the first Trump administration moved the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Kansas City, the Government Accountability Office said 65% of its Black employees declined to move and asked if the Trump administration will conduct an analysis of the impact of its relocation plans by race.

Vaden said, "We want every employee to join with us regardless of race, gender or any other characteristic."

When Warnock asked if USDA had or would conduct any analysis of the disparate impact of the relocation, Vaden said, "We will take into account our civil rights responsibilities in everything we do. ... You have my word that everything we do will not be based on race."

"I take that as a no," Warnock said.

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said he is concerned that the reorganization plan shows an "imbalance" between commodities and dairy and specialty crops.

Vaden said the plan should not show a preference for one type of farm over another and urged Welch to call him with ideas over how to avoid that.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., expressed disappointment that she did not have an opportunity to present her state's potential as a hub. Still, Vaden assured her none of the research facilities in Nebraska would be negatively affected.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, praised the Trump administration for requiring federal employees to be in the office and for planning to unload office buildings that are not at least 60% occupied.

Ernst said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack "lied" to the committee last year about the percentage of USDA employees who were reporting to the office.

Vilsack told The Hagstrom Report in an email on Wednesday, "I stand by the information (in) the testimony I provided at the hearing the senator referenced and remain confident in its accuracy at the time."

On X, Rollins wrote: "Outstanding work, @DepSecVaden, at today's last-minute hearing on the Hill! While DC elites try to block our #AmericaFirst reorg, @USDA is delivering on President Trump's promise of cutting waste, decentralizing power, & putting staff closer to the farmers & ranchers they serve! The American people are with us. Let's get it done! #DrainTheSwamp"

Jerry Hagstrom can be reached at jhagstrom@nationaljournal.com

Follow him on social platform X @hagstromreport

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