Thousands of workers have accepted the Trump Administration’s buyout offers at USDA. E & E News says employees who’ve seen the internal numbers at USDA say the count has reached 3,100 at the Forest Service, 1,200 at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and possibly up to 12,000 people through the entire agency. That’s over 10 percent of the department’s 100,000 employees.
The buyouts are deferred resignations with paid leave through September and are said to be preludes to firings expected to hit USDA in the weeks ahead.
An employee at the Natural Resources Conservation Service who took the buyout offer said the numbers are subject to change if workers clicked on the offer but don’t sign the resignation agreement.
Another report says USDA is planning to relocate a sizable number of employees that it doesn’t lay off to one of three locations around the country.
