Key facts
- The GAO said the USDA did not respond to repeated requests for its analysis of the reorganization's effects.
- The GAO said the missing information left Congress and the public with little transparency on the plan's impact.
- The USDA workforce fell 20% from December 2024 through March 2026, from about 91,000 to about 73,000, the report said.
- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins called the GAO report "partisan shenanigans" in a September 30 letter.
- A federal judge in October blocked the reorganization, ruling for federal worker unions that sued.
The US Department of Agriculture did not give the Government Accountability Office documentation showing it analyzed potential harms from its agency-wide reorganization, and the move lacked transparency, according to a GAO report described by Reuters on November 9, 2026.
The GAO, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency that examines government spending, said the USDA did not respond to repeated requests for its analysis of the reorganization's effects. That left Congress and the public with little information on how the department weighed the plan's impact on agency functions and finances, the report said.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has sought to move about half of the USDA's Washington, DC-area employees to hubs around the country as part of the Trump administration's effort to overhaul the federal government. The USDA workforce fell 20% from December 2024 through March 2026, from about 91,000 employees to about 73,000, the report said, with many departures tied to federal worker cuts led by the Department of Government Efficiency.
Farmers have raised concern that the reorganization has left county USDA offices with lower staffing, where they can get support for loan and conservation programs. In a September 30 letter to the GAO included in the report, Rollins said she deliberated for months on how to approach the reorganization and called the GAO report "partisan shenanigans."
A federal judge in October blocked the agency from proceeding with the reorganization, ruling for federal worker unions that had sued to stop it. The GAO report was requested by Democratic Representative Angie Craig and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar.