Federal agriculture officials are moving hundreds of administrative roles to Iowa and Georgia as part of a broader restructuring effort.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is relocating a portion of its Washington-based workforce to regional hubs in the Midwest and Southeast, continuing a broader shift of federal operations outside the nation’s capital.
The move follows reports that more than 62,000 federal positions have either been eliminated or transferred out of the Washington metropolitan area since President Donald Trump began his second term. According to a regional workforce analysis and reporting on the relocation, approximately 200 additional positions will now be reassigned to Iowa and Georgia.
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen A. Vaden said the restructuring is designed to improve efficiency and oversight. “Consolidating support operations in Iowa, strengthening scientific work in Georgia, and aligning staff with mission needs will reduce duplication and improve accountability,” Vaden said.
The department is transferring roughly two-thirds of the National Capital Region workforce within the Food Safety and Inspection Service to new locations outside Washington. These positions largely consist of administrative, technical, and support personnel rather than frontline inspectors, who already operate across production facilities nationwide.
Most of the reassigned employees will move to a new National Food Safety Center in Urbandale, Iowa, where existing facilities are being expanded into a central hub for training, information technology, financial services, and administrative coordination.
Additional staff will transition to a new Science Center in Athens, Georgia, where laboratory capabilities in microbiology, chemistry, and epidemiology are being enhanced. A smaller number of positions will be moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, focusing on international trade and regulatory matters.
About 100 roles tied to policy, congressional affairs, and interagency coordination will remain in Washington. Officials said no employees will lose their jobs or pay grades as part of the reorganization.
For decades, the Food Safety and Inspection Service maintained its primary leadership and policy functions within the Washington area. The current changes represent a significant shift in how those operations are geographically structured.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has framed the reorganization as part of a broader effort to align agency functions more closely with agricultural production regions. Iowa and Georgia were identified as key locations due to their roles in livestock and poultry production, with Georgia recognized as a major poultry-producing state.
The department has also announced plans to relocate the U.S. Forest Service headquarters from Washington to Salt Lake City and to close multiple facilities nationwide. Rollins said in a statement on the restructuring that placing leadership closer to operational areas would strengthen the agency’s core mission while reducing costs.
The relocation effort follows similar actions during Trump’s first term, including the transfer of research agencies such as the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Kansas City.
Officials said the latest moves are intended to streamline operations, reduce overhead associated with Washington-based offices, and position staff closer to the industries they oversee.