GAO found little transparency on USDA reorganization analysis

The Government Accountability Office published the report on Monday 09 November 2026. In July 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a reorganization plan that included relocating thousands of staff positions from the National Capital Region to five hub locations across the country. In the spring of 2026, all eight USDA mission areas and several agencies announced reorganization plans that included relocating certain agency functions.

Federal litigation sought to stop USDA from implementing the reorganization plan. USDA's workforce decreased by 20 percent from December 2024 through March 2026, from about 91,000 employees to about 73,000. Individual agency decreases ranged from 12 percent at the Forest Service to 41 percent at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The Government Accountability Office said the extent to which USDA conducted and considered analysis before announcing the reorganization was unknown. USDA did not respond to GAO's requests for information about the analyses that informed its 2025 reorganization plan. As a result, Congress and the public did not have information on whether USDA examined effects on service delivery, economic effects or how to protect taxpayers' dollars in disposing of property.

GAO said leading practices included planning for agency reforms, conducting economic analysis, assessing management of federal real property assets and strategic workforce planning. These practices could help agencies conduct appropriate analyses and make sound decisions when they reorganize and relocate staff.

GAO reviewed laws, reports and other agency documents related to the reorganization. It also analyzed federal workforce data from the Office of Personnel Management and reviewed past GAO reports on leading practices and changes after earlier agency relocations.

GAO previously reported on USDA's 2019 relocation of the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. More than half of staff at those agencies left after the moves, which affected workforce experience levels, composition and agency productivity. Two years after the relocations, overall staffing levels and productivity had generally returned to previous levels.