GAO says USDA's 2025 Reorganization Lacks Documented Impact Analysis

The Government Accountability Office reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's July 2025 announcement to reorganize and relocate thousands of positions was not accompanied by any documentation showing that the agency analyzed the potential impacts of the move. The finding applies to USDA's eight mission areas, which in the spring of 2026 each announced reorganization plans that include relocating certain agency functions. Federal litigation seeking to halt the department's reorganization plan is currently pending.

USDA's plan calls for moving staff from the National Capital Region to five hub locations across the country. Between December 2024 and March 2026, the department's workforce fell by 20 percent, from about 91,000 employees to about 73,000. Agency-specific declines ranged from a 12 percent reduction at the Forest Service to a 41 percent reduction at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

GAO notes that leading practices for agency reforms - such as strategic workforce planning, economic analysis, and real-property asset assessment - were not shown to have been considered. USDA did not respond to GAO's requests for information on any analyses conducted to inform the 2025 reorganization plan, leaving Congress and the public without insight into how the reorganization might affect service delivery, economic outcomes, or the protection of taxpayer dollars in property disposals.

The report underscores that without documented analysis, it is unclear whether USDA's reorganization aligns with best practices that could mitigate disruptions and preserve agency productivity. GAO's review was based on agency documents, federal workforce data from the Office of Personnel Management, and prior GAO reports on earlier USDA relocations.