The Agriculture Department is preparing to issue hundreds of termination letters to employees who have not agreed to move from the District of Columbia to Kansas City. The notices, arriving sooner than some workers and their supporters expected, will accelerate a controversial relocation process that has already stripped two USDA agencies of key research staff.
Last summer, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced he would relocate the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which manages a $1.7 billion portfolio of scientific grants, and the Economic Research Service, an influential federal statistical agency. The agencies rent office space in Southwest Washington near the waterfront.
In June 2019, Perdue declared the Kansas City region as the site of the new offices. USDA’s cost-benefit analysis suggests the move will save taxpayers $300 million over 15 years. The department has not said whether the employees will work in Kansas or Missouri; instead, it has set aside temporary office space for staff in its Beacon Complex in Missouri.
Click her few to read the rest of the article written by Ben Guarino over at the Washington Post