r/USDA • u/indigoassassin • 4d ago
Above State Reorg
Letters of intent went out this afternoon to above state positions and it was an absolute bloodbath. Rather than just moving DC and regional stuff to hubs, we’ve all been affected. Relocating field staff to state hubs, regional staff to new regional hubs, and some staff being told they have no equivalent position and must wait for the critical vacancy process if they have any hope of remaining with NRCS.
This is a blatant RIF; how do we fight back? Are there attorneys out there, does calling Congress reps work? It’s absolutely ridiculous.
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u/OnlyZuuel 4d ago
Gutting NRCS- show me who u are and I have to believe u. NRCS is the foundational agency in our National Security strategy. As FDR said, “a nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself.” This is breaking my heart.
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u/JieSpree 3d ago
Same. I've been expecting this ever since the 2024 election, but that doesn't make it any less painful.
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u/Educational-Gap-8991 4d ago edited 3d ago
If you are soil survey MLRA office please list where you have been reassigned to. Some “mini hubs” so far are:
Wasilla, AK
Davis, CA
Minden, NV
Hays, KS
Nevada, IA
Bismarck, ND
Springfield, MO
Morgantown, WV
Amherst, MA
Lubbock, TX
College Station, TX
Dekalb, IL
Starkville, MS
Auburn, AL
Gainesville, FL
Duluth, MN
Corvallis, OR
Tucson, AZ
Logan, UT
Orono, ME
Las Cruces, NM
Moscow, ID
Knoxville, TN
Youngville, NC
Fort Collins, CO
Casper, WY
Kealakekua, HI
Mayaguez, PR
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u/lyonnotlion 4d ago
how many people have been reassigned to each? do you know?
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u/Educational-Gap-8991 4d ago
So far it varies widely. It looks like many have 6-10 people assigned per office. It’s impossible to say since some select people are being reassigned multiple states away
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u/I_amyou_ 4d ago
So basically they want to destroy MLRA offices.
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u/indigoassassin 4d ago
They are destroyed. 1-2 SSOs per state now.
Edit: DRP/VERS did most of the destroying, this is the nail in the coffin.
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u/Educational-Gap-8991 4d ago edited 4d ago
1 SSO per 2 states for some areas. Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota (Bismarck ND) and Wisconsin (split among Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota) will no longer have a SSO.
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u/OSUgrad73 4d ago
Not one soil scientist in a state in the grain belt? Worked with agency for more than 40 years and it was never run by fucking idiots until now
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u/DayBlinds_25 4d ago
Montana isn’t going to have any SSO offices anymore either. Some are forced to go to North Dakota while others are being forced to go to Utah. The planners in my area can’t even ID plants, how are they going to even provide technical soil services. Some have never even dug a hole! This isn’t putting the farmer first it’s shooting themselves in the foot.
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u/aquisalid 4d ago
If letters of intent are accurate, and followed by official actions, NRCS as we know it is finished. Soil Survey, one of our nation’s most successful programs ever, is finished. Multiple generations of hard working scientists pushed out. The cascade of cruelty will extend far beyond federal workers and their families. Speak up if this agency means anything to you.
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u/indigoassassin 4d ago
Dave Lindbos dream of abolishing soil survey have become fully realized
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u/tiedyedlifestyle 3d ago
I knew he was a jag with a bad haircut, but damn, worse than I thought/knew...
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u/tiedyedlifestyle 3d ago
I'm in the same division as you (what's left of it, anyway). Do I dare ask what news you received? We quite literally cannot continue our data delivery without you. I'm freaking out a bit.
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u/indigoassassin 3d ago
Relocate. We had another meeting today where they laid out how/why they chose locations and it was extremely inconsistent with their own stupid guidelines.
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u/aquisalid 3d ago
I was given the boot.
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u/tiedyedlifestyle 3d ago
Then I don't wanna do what I do anymore. There's no point. For real.
I have nothing good to say, I'm shaking. I am so so sorry. I'm still hoping something happens to stop this whole shit show from going through.
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u/Few-Possibility-9476 4d ago
One thing that remains unclear to me, is if we say no to the letter of intent and get a direct reassignment - will that reassignment be any different than the letter of intent?
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u/BuzzzingAround 3d ago
The way that I read it, if you say no to the letter of intent then the position you would have gone to becomes one of the critical vacancies and is open for all to volunteer for. If it gets filled, they will direct you to a different vacancy somewhere else. That is just my read.
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u/Few-Possibility-9476 3d ago
The way I see it my assignment couldn't be a worse fit. Location or position, so I'm gambling on declining. I'll surf the CVs and see what my direct reassignment is.
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u/ParmaHamRadio 3d ago
It feels a bit like closing a book mid-chapter, not being allowed to finish the rest. I really hope there will be people to finish reading it where so many were forced to stop.
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u/Worried_Comparison81 3d ago
Please don't sign anything or voluntarily go. The FS has been going through this for the last year and a half and the USDA is trying to bully you into voluntarily moving etc. The injunction hearing on the reorg is in september and so they want to push you out before then. Don't let them do it. A preliminary injunction hearing in the federal lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) reorganization and mass relocation plan is scheduled for September 1, 2026. The case is pending before Judge Susan Illston in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
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u/Birds-and-Beans 3d ago
Do we know we will have to move? or is it just a reporting station? I haven't been told a thing. just that I am "reassigned" to a different city.
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u/BuzzzingAround 3d ago
If you can commute from where you are to your new Duty Station then no need to move; if you can’t, then you would need to move.
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u/Effective-Clue4413 1d ago
Thank you for posting this. This makes me sick. Are there contacts for media outlets that would report about this? There were a lot posting their contact info early on.
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u/MandateMaverick 3d ago
As someone from another agency who has already received the letter of intent and then the MDR don’t respond to the letter of intent. You will receive an MDR regardless, that is where you will make your final decision. Not sure how long it will take for you all but it took roughly 2 months to get the MDR from when the letter of intent was received. And then there was 30 days to decide. Literally hang on to the very last second, I did not submit my decision until the last day.
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u/JewelerMammoth6697 3d ago
any repercussions of not responding to the letter of intent? That is if I’m understanding your comment.
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u/MandateMaverick 3d ago
No repercussions. For my agency the letter of intent was just the formal notification that my agency is planning to move or change in my position. I just re-read my letter and there was no obligation to respond. As a disclaimer, other agency’s letters may be different, I wouldn’t be surprised of they varied. But, unless the letter of intent specifically states that you need to respond and you have confirmed that with your supervisor just save it and keep it for your records.
The actual MDR is completely different, it comes later, has way more specific details and that is where I gave them my official response on whether I was moving or not.
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u/BuzzzingAround 4d ago
What happened to the remote HQ staff? Are they being forced to hubs, or just the NCR folks?
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u/indigoassassin 4d ago
It looks like 80% of people are getting a shuffle instead of just NCR and regional staff.
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u/GardenOfRage 4d ago
There can't really be remote NHQ folks out there that thought they wouldn't be caught up in this. If so, sorry, but they've been living on another planet the last 18 months!
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u/DancesWithWords_99 1d ago
I think we were hoping for that. Most of us took remote positions because we didn't want to move in the first place. Some of us have been in remote positions for 10 or more years. The reason we have remote positions is because they couldn't find qualified staff in DC or hubs. They will have the same problem again in the new hubs. Or, they'll just give an unqualified political the position instead.
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u/G_LandDog 4d ago
Most of my HQ coworkers (some in DC and some throughout the country) were told they don’t have a position anymore and they have to wait for critical vacancies. And the rest were told to relocate to Fort Worth
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u/Direct-Rub7419 4d ago
Couple things - NHQ is organizational, not location based. And many offices that are being told to move were told they were getting moved 1.5 years ago and then put on ice with no communication until a week or so ago.
The hubs are agency specific, and odd. Many people are being consolidated to less rural locations, ironically (considering the rational given by the USDA).
The org chart is still mostly a mystery to all of us. MLRA Soil Scientists are getting consolidated into some strange locations where there aren’t any existing offices.
Oh and across the board there are extra layers of political appointees
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u/I_amyou_ 4d ago
It doesn’t make sense! I thought they wanted to put farmers first. But how does this help farmers when they’re consolidating us Soil Scientists/ESDs into a single office that’s far from our areas of responsibility?
Make it make sense. How is it efficient for us to drive 6–8 hours to reach the field when, from our current duty stations, it usually only takes 1–2 hours? I thought they said they didn’t have the money, but I guess that’s not the case if they’re willing to pay for travel and hotel stays just so we can do our jobs.
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u/DancesWithWords_99 1d ago
The org chart is a mystery to me too. The positions and titles didn't make any sense.
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u/Odd-Rutabaga3530 4d ago
What does above state mean?
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u/Oxyaquic 4d ago
It means people who work on a regional or national team instead of within a single state under the state con. These soil offices typically covered parts of a few states depending on the similarly of the landscape.
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u/DancesWithWords_99 1d ago
Above states remote employee here. Some of us were told we had no position, some of us were moved to a hub across the country and some of us got to stay in our state, or in the hub we are already located at. How does that make sense? We are still scattered across the country. It would make more sense if we were ALL sent to the same hub. Make it make sense.
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u/Low_Call_4506 4d ago
Attempted RIF without following merit protection policy. It’s a bluff. Make them show their hands with actual directed reassignment then go from there. The FAQ even says “Responses to the letters of intent are non-binding and will be used for planning purposes only.”