Lawmakers pressing USDA on political relocation of research agencies

Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), Don Beyer (D-VA), and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) have requested a legal decision from the Government Accountability Office regarding two of the agencies’ findings in a recently released report on the Trump administration’s relocation of two USDA research agencies to Kansas City in 2019.

The members are asking the GAO to determine if USDA violated federal appropriations law by soliciting incentives to offset relocation costs in lieu of congressional appropriations, and if the agency failed to properly notify Congress that funds were being obligated to relocate the agencies.

The report, which was requested by the members and released on April 19, found that the previous administration’s relocation of the USDA research agencies failed to meet objectives to reduce costs and attract high-quality staff.

“This relocation has been a disaster from day one, as the previous administration conducted a flawed and secretive process which forced federal workers out of their jobs and undermined the critical scientific research of these agencies,” said the representatives. “The GAO’s findings raise a number of concerns beyond USDA’s failure to meet its stated objectives. Additional oversight is needed to determine if the administration flaunted legal requirements and undermined Congress’ appropriations authority as well. We must ensure this kind of assault on science and the federal workforce does not happen again.”

The relocation of USDA’s Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to Kansas City, Missouri, resulted in hundreds of federal workers leaving their positions and major consequences to the work product of the two agencies.

Reps. Wexton, Connolly, and Beyer led the effort in the House to block the relocation and introduced legislation to require a comprehensive and public cost-benefit analysis of proposed federal agency relocations. Wexton serves on the House Appropriations Committee; Beyer serves on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee; and Connolly serves on the House Oversight Committee.

The text of the letters can be found here and here.