Workforce
USDA relocation of food assistance employees will lead to major staffing losses, union warns

More than 80% of USDA food assistance employees surveyed said they would not relocate, raising fears of a major workforce exodus.

Jory Heckman@jheckmanWFED
May 28, 2026 6:06 pm
6 min read

Many employees working in the Agriculture Department’s food assistance programs would rather quit their jobs than relocate across the country, according to an internal poll conducted by their union.

USDA announced last month that most Food and Nutrition Service employees will relocate to other parts of the country, after shuttering its Washington, D.C. headquarters and several of its regional offices.

But the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 226, which represents FNS employees, says more than 80% of staff who took an internal survey claim they will not relocate to keep their jobs. Another union survey of other USDA employees tapped to relocate found similar results.

About a third of all current FNS employees took the survey. The Food and Nutrition Service has a workforce of about 1,200 employees.

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Jory Heckman
Jory Heckman is a reporter at Federal News Network covering the Postal Service, Department of Veterans Affairs, IRS, big data and technology issues. Follow @jheckmanWFED