Swordsmyth
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A Trump administration decision to move researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the Kansas City area is threatening to spark the flight of more than half of the staff selected to move, gutting the agency of its top scientific voices.
Staff have until midnight Monday to decide whether to uproot and join the department as it moves its research branches from Washington, D.C., lured by $26 million in promised incentives from state and local officials.
Critics see the move, set to be completed by Sept. 30, as yet another example of the Trump administration looking to sideline scientists and researchers, keeping them away from the corridors of power. Administration officials deny that, calling it a cost-saving move intended to have researchers closer to farmers.
The decision comes as other agencies are also planning to relocate parts of their teams amid suspicions about the move. For example, the Interior Department is expected to announce Tuesday a new headquarters for the Bureau of Land Management.
The move affects two wings of the USDA. Economic Research Service (ERS) employees analyze the agricultural market, but their research is much broader, including looking at food stamps, rural poverty and conservation.
National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) employees work with universities to fund research and coordinate the process that issues research grants on agriculture-related subjects, including climate change adaptation.
The two agencies voted to unionize in response to the move, as Democrats in both chambers and a number of groups that regularly work with the two agencies lobby to keep them in Washington.
Estimates tallied by employees show 70 percent of ERS employees designated for the Kansas City office will not be moving. For NIFA, 45 percent of those surveyed say they will not move. Overall, the move was expected to impact 547 staff between the two agencies.
But the numbers of staff refusing to move may grow: Some employees said staff at both agencies are trying not to tip their hand, saying they will move only if they do not find another job in the D.C. area.
So far, just 27 ERS staff out of 250 have committed to moving to Kansas City, according to the employee tallies.
That process was put on pause during the government shutdown, but on June 16 employees were told they had a month to decide whether they’d like to move to the Kansas City area or leave the agency.
Employees would then have two months to move to Kansas City — they must be there by the end of the fiscal year — but school in the area is slated to start Aug. 12, putting added pressure on those with families to quickly make a move.
Employees say morale is at an all-time low and they worry about the future of an agency that is already hemorrhaging staff and having trouble completing its work.
“Honestly, I’m not sure how we’re going to bounce back, or if we will,” said Laura Dodson, an agricultural economist with ERS who is now a union steward. “This agency is the product of like 50 years of institutional knowledge and gathering up researchers who are very specialized in their fields.”
More at: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-e...as-research-agencies-move-to-kansas-city-area
Staff have until midnight Monday to decide whether to uproot and join the department as it moves its research branches from Washington, D.C., lured by $26 million in promised incentives from state and local officials.
Critics see the move, set to be completed by Sept. 30, as yet another example of the Trump administration looking to sideline scientists and researchers, keeping them away from the corridors of power. Administration officials deny that, calling it a cost-saving move intended to have researchers closer to farmers.
The decision comes as other agencies are also planning to relocate parts of their teams amid suspicions about the move. For example, the Interior Department is expected to announce Tuesday a new headquarters for the Bureau of Land Management.
The move affects two wings of the USDA. Economic Research Service (ERS) employees analyze the agricultural market, but their research is much broader, including looking at food stamps, rural poverty and conservation.
National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) employees work with universities to fund research and coordinate the process that issues research grants on agriculture-related subjects, including climate change adaptation.
The two agencies voted to unionize in response to the move, as Democrats in both chambers and a number of groups that regularly work with the two agencies lobby to keep them in Washington.
Estimates tallied by employees show 70 percent of ERS employees designated for the Kansas City office will not be moving. For NIFA, 45 percent of those surveyed say they will not move. Overall, the move was expected to impact 547 staff between the two agencies.
But the numbers of staff refusing to move may grow: Some employees said staff at both agencies are trying not to tip their hand, saying they will move only if they do not find another job in the D.C. area.
So far, just 27 ERS staff out of 250 have committed to moving to Kansas City, according to the employee tallies.
That process was put on pause during the government shutdown, but on June 16 employees were told they had a month to decide whether they’d like to move to the Kansas City area or leave the agency.
Employees would then have two months to move to Kansas City — they must be there by the end of the fiscal year — but school in the area is slated to start Aug. 12, putting added pressure on those with families to quickly make a move.
Employees say morale is at an all-time low and they worry about the future of an agency that is already hemorrhaging staff and having trouble completing its work.
“Honestly, I’m not sure how we’re going to bounce back, or if we will,” said Laura Dodson, an agricultural economist with ERS who is now a union steward. “This agency is the product of like 50 years of institutional knowledge and gathering up researchers who are very specialized in their fields.”
More at: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-e...as-research-agencies-move-to-kansas-city-area
