Posted on 08/09/2019 4:21:22 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reversed course late Friday, agreeing to key union demands as nearly two-thirds of its research staff will leave the agency rather than move to new headquarters in the Kansas City area.
The announcement follows a tumultuous few weeks at the USDA where employees were given a month to decide if they would uproot from D.C. by Sept. 30 or lose their jobs that same day.
Employees at both the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) — two of the major research wings within USDA — unionized in the wake of the agency’s relocation plans and the USDA has been heavily criticized by lawmakers for the short timeline and chaos surrounding the decision.
The Friday contract will allow employees who agreed to relocate to telework through the end of the year, including the option to extend the time period.
Employees who make the move will also be given a bonus equal to one month’s pay “to help compensate for the loss of income incurred by employees moving from the higher wage D.C. area,” according to a press release from the American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing the USDA employees.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) was one of several senators pushing for more flexibility for ERS and NIFA staffers, particularly as on-the-ground preparations in Kansas City appeared to be lagging.
“Will you also commit to utilizing available office space and teleworking capabilities to keep your employees in the National Capital Region unless and until a final office space is completed and ready for occupancy in Kansas City?” Van Hollen wrote to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue in July.
Two-thirds of the staff at the two agencies told USDA they would forfeit their job rather than move to Kansas City in a plan many say is politically motivated and poorly organized.
“Moving these researchers out of Washington puts them out of earshot from policymakers. A lot of the research that scientists and economists do at [the USDA] has policy implications, and members of Congress need this information and need to have face-to-face meetings with these researchers,” Rebecca Boehm, with the Union of Concerned Scientists, told The Hill when the move was first announced.
“It keeps science out of the policymaking process. And we’ve seen many times that this administration doesn’t like facts or research that isn’t convenient or [is] an impediment to their agenda, so I think moving them away helps accomplish that,” she added.
Democrats have repeatedly questioned the wisdom of the move.
“It is still unclear to me what problem the USDA is trying to solve with this move. ... We do know what problems it is creating,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, said at a July hearing, going on to call it “a thinly veiled, ideological attempt to drive away key USDA employees.”
Those outside of political circles have also questioned the planned relocation and whether it’s entirely legal. A Tuesday report from USDA’s Office of Inspector General said the decision may have violated the law.
The USDA’s general counsel, Stephen Vaden, has argued that the department is not bound by laws requiring it to secure congressional approval to spend the money to relocate, claiming the law in question is unconstitutional.
The inspector general’s report counters that Vaden's claim is “not consistent with prior positions taken by the Department.”
“To reach management decision on this recommendation and to ensure consistent treatment going forward, the Department needs to communicate, in writing, this change of interpretation to USDA leaders at the Sub-Cabinet and Agency levels,” the report states.
The USDA did not respond to a request for comment.
DC is where I want to stay
I get allergic smelling hay
I just adore a White House view
I love ya but give Pennsylvania Avenue...
Sorry but I got no sympathy. Nobody promised a lifetime guarantee.
Just quit, we’ll all be happier. We don’t want any more candy-ass prima Donna beaurocrats, lots of local guys here can do your job.
Just quit.
lets start a list of where the agencies should move:
Commerce to Newark
DHS to El Paso
HUD to Gary
BLM to Fairbanks
….
Skype would never work. There would be a record of what they discussed.
For better or worse most of these jobs aren't agriculture-specific. They're much more related to economic analysis and tax and trade issues.
These people's skill sets are in much higher demand in DC than in KC.
There is a lower cost of living there so they should be good.
How will we ever survive without USDA researchers? This is a bigger cataclysm than a huge meteor strike.
Be patient. They are just starting the replacement program to dump Western Union Telegraph and install Telex.
I’d rather fire them now, but as long as they steadily cut staff, I’m happy.
Amtrak should move to Chicago, which is the hub for its national network of long distance trains.
YES!
KEEP DRAINING THE SWAMP!
HST, WHEN YOU ARE UP TO YOUR ASS IN ALLIGATORS (LIEBERALS!),
IT IS HARD TO KEEP IN MIND THAT YOUR INITIAL OBJECTIVE WAS TO DRAIN THE SWAMP!
Next, let’s move FBI Headquarters to Kansas City. They’ll do a better job because they would be less motivated by the “Swamp” in D.C.
The 3 business units should be separated into 3 different agencies to avoid Amtrak's annoying practice of allocating costs across business units, which gives false data about financial success or failure.
The Northeast Corridor should be headquartered in Philadelphia.
The state-supported corridor operations should be headquartered in Sacramento, which is where many of the various California corridor operations intersect.
The long distance network should be headquartered at Chicago's Union Station.
To get rid of the swamp creatures and well connected Leftards and provide assistance to the folks they serve more directly
Does this bother you?
Put them all in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, let them see a real fever swamp up close and personal.
Yes - I should have read past the first sentence.
The two main “research” groups are economic research and NIFA, which hands out scientific research grants.
In Washington D.C., there is never a shortage of work for economists or cash distributors!
Yes, actually. And none of those researchers is located in DC. USDA has at least one in south Louisiana. This is just a bunch of bitching beltway bandits screeching when their gravy train is being derailed.
Agreed. As well, I believe it makes a whole lot of sense to have the agencies located where most of its responsibilities are. Very little agriculture happens in DC/MD/VA Metro area.
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