The USDA lost more than 20,300 employees — about one-fifth of its workforce — in the first five months of the Trump administration, the agency's inspector general reports. About 75% of those exits were via a financial-incentive (buyout) program; the rest were resignations, retirements, terminations or other departures. Attrition varied widely across sub-agencies, with some units losing more than 30% of staff. The USDA says it will restructure and move roughly half of its Washington-area staff to five regional hubs.
USDA Lost More Than 20,300 Employees Early in Trump Administration, Inspector General Finds
A general view of the U. S. Department of Agriculture headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
More than 20,300 employees left the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during the first five months of President Donald Trump's administration — roughly one-fifth of the department's workforce — according to a report from the USDA Office of Inspector General.
The report found that about three-quarters of those departures occurred through a financial-incentive program (commonly described as a buyout) offered as part of the administration's effort to reduce federal staffing levels. The remaining separations resulted from resignation, retirement, termination or other routes.
Inspectors analyzed pay-period and personnel data to track exits between Jan. 12 and June 14. At the start of the year the USDA employed more than 110,300 people, the report noted.
Wide Variation Across Agencies
Attrition rates varied sharply across USDA sub-agencies, running below 10% in some units and reaching as high as 67% in others. More than 30% of staff departed at the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the department's rural development arm.
Detailed agency-level figures cited in the report include:
- Forest Service: More than 5,800 departures (about 16% of staff)
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS): 2,673 departures (about 22%)
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS): 2,105 departures (about 25%)
- Farm Service Agency (FSA): 806 departures (about 24%)
"Losing nearly 20% of all USDA staff weakens the department's ability to respond to challenges facing our farmers, leaves our food supply chains more vulnerable to threats like New World Screwworm and avian flu, and undermines efforts to drive the rural economy forward," said Senator Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
A USDA spokesperson responded that the department is "being transparent about plans to optimize and reduce our workforce and to return the department to a customer-service focused, farmer first agency." Officials also said the agency plans to relocate roughly half of its remaining Washington-area staff next year into five regional hubs around the country.
The inspector general's findings raise questions about how concentrated buyouts and large-scale attrition could affect USDA programs, oversight, and the department's capacity to respond to agricultural pests, disease outbreaks and other threats to food security and rural economies.
