Members of Congress are raising alarms over sweeping changes to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the broader federal oversight system, as recent moves by the Trump administration have sparked bipartisan concern about the future of government accountability and service to rural America. Over the past week, Democrats on both the House Agriculture Committee and the House Oversight and Reform Committee have issued urgent letters demanding answers from top officials, warning that a combination of agency reorganizations and inspector general purges could cripple the government’s ability to serve the public and root out waste and abuse.
On August 13, 2025, the House Agriculture Committee’s Democrats sent an eight-page letter to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, seeking detailed information about her plan to fundamentally reorganize the USDA. The proposal, which involves relocating more than 2,000 employees from Washington, D.C. to five new regional hubs across the country, has left lawmakers and workers alike on edge. According to Civil Eats, the letter spells out lawmakers’ fears in no uncertain terms: “We are deeply concerned that the Department’s proposal will make it less effective and significantly hinder its ability to provide the customer service and support our farmers and rural communities deserve.”
The lawmakers’ concerns are not without precedent. They pointed to the Trump administration’s earlier decision to move the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to Kansas City, Missouri. That relocation saw three quarters of employees quit and led to a notable drop in productivity. “If similar results occur as the result of this reorganization plan, the Department will be paralyzed, and it will be the millions of American farmers and families that depend on USDA services who pay the price,” the committee warned.
The letter is not the first of its kind. Just a week prior, another group of House Democrats on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee had sent their own letter, requesting additional information about the reorganization, including any analyses that preceded the plan, as well as timelines and cost estimates. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have voiced frustration at being left out of the loop, with many saying they have had little to no input on the sweeping changes being considered.
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden appeared before the Senate Agriculture Committee at the end of July, but, as Civil Eats reported, his testimony offered few new details. The lack of clarity has only heightened anxiety among USDA employees, who have seen their ranks dwindle rapidly in recent months. Since January 2025, the USDA has lost more than 20,000 employees—about a fifth of its workforce. Many remaining staffers, speaking anonymously for fear of retribution, described being stretched thin, taking on extra work to cover for missing colleagues, and receiving scant communication from leadership about the reorganization’s impact on their jobs and lives. “We don’t know any more details than were in the press release and the memo the Secretary released,” one employee told Civil Eats. “We haven’t gotten any communication from our agency leadership on what this will mean for us. We’ve just been trying to get the work done and make sure the programs operate for the American people.”
Both groups of lawmakers have demanded a response from the USDA by the week following August 15, 2025, seeking to halt or at least slow the reorganization until more information is provided and stakeholders are properly consulted. The urgency is palpable, as the effects of past relocations—particularly the ERS and NIFA moves—loom large in the minds of those who rely on USDA services for their livelihoods.
But the turmoil at the USDA is just one piece of a larger pattern of upheaval across the federal government. On August 15, Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee sent letters to two dozen federal agencies, demanding that they cooperate fully with their inspectors general (IGs). The lawmakers accused the Trump administration of systematically starving IG offices of resources and blocking investigations by restricting access to key documents and personnel. According to reporting from Government Executive, some inspector general offices have reported staff reductions of 20% to 30% since January 2025, driven by a combination of hiring freezes, deferred resignation programs, and reductions in force.
The committee’s letter lays out a stark picture: “The Trump administration’s actions have both deprived OIGs of the personnel and resources they need to examine and address waste, fraud, abuse and corruption in government, and limited agencies’ ability to respond to OIG requests.” The lawmakers cited multiple instances of agencies delaying responses, altering work schedules, and creating recruitment and retention headaches for IG offices. One office even expressed concern that “it could experience delays in the future due to staff reductions resulting from the hiring freeze, meeting EO compliance, deferred resignation program, and any future RIF requirements.”
The administration’s approach has extended to outright firings. Shortly after taking office in January 2025, President Trump dismissed more than a dozen inspectors general, often without providing the legally required 30 days’ notice or an explanation to Congress. Notably, the U.S. Agency for International Development IG was fired in February 2025 after issuing a report critical of efforts to shutter the agency, and the acting Education IG was removed in June 2025 after raising concerns about interference with an Office of Inspector General investigation.
These actions have had direct consequences. On May 23, 2025, the Education Department’s IG notified Congress that the department had withheld numerous documents requested by the IG, citing vague claims of sensitivity or litigation—moves the committee argues are in “clear violation of the IG Act, which authorizes the OIG ‘to have timely access to all records, reports, audits, reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, or other materials available’ related to ED’s ‘programs and operations.’ Further, the IG Act bars any agency from withholding information from the OIG on the basis of deliberative information or information subject to litigation.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, was blunt in his assessment of the administration’s actions. “Reports of the Trump administration’s extensive efforts to block inspectors general from doing their jobs confirm what we already knew: Donald Trump has never cared about uncovering waste, fraud and abuse in our government,” Garcia said in a statement. “The administration’s interference with these critical nonpartisan watchdogs is a severe threat to the integrity of the nation’s government.”
As the deadlines for responses approach, the stakes could hardly be higher. Lawmakers warn that without proper oversight and a robust, well-resourced workforce, essential government services—including those that support millions of farmers and rural communities—could grind to a halt. The coming weeks will reveal whether Congress can extract the answers and accountability it seeks, or whether these sweeping changes will proceed with little transparency or input from those most affected.
For now, uncertainty reigns in Washington and beyond, as employees, lawmakers, and the public wait to see how the administration’s plans will reshape the machinery of American government.
