Thousands of workers have taken the Trump administration’s second buyout offer at the Department of Agriculture, as the Trump administration continues to shrink the nearly 100,000-employee agency.

Employees who’ve seen internal numbers at the USDA indicate the count has reached 3,100 takers at the Forest Service, around 1,200 at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and possibly as many as 12,000 departmentwide — or more than 10 percent of the department’s total employment.

The voluntary departures represent a wide swath of the agency’s work with communities that rely on its myriad conservation, energy and forestry programs, in addition to protecting the nation’s plants and animals from diseases.

The buyouts — deferred resignations with paid leave through September — are a prelude to firings expected to hit the agency in the coming weeks, the number of which depends on how many leave voluntarily. The buyout offer expired Tuesday.

A USDA spokesperson didn’t comment on specific numbers, except to say they’re still being finalized and are aimed at improving service in the long run. And a Natural Resources Conservation Service employee who took the offer said the numbers are subject to change if workers clicked on the offer but don’t ultimately sign the resignation agreement.

A department spokesperson said in a statement, “While Secretary Rollins is actively pursuing plans to reduce USDA’s workforce to better serve the needs of the people we serve, she will not compromise the critical work of the Department.”

Employees at the Forest Service, the NRSC and the General Counsel’s Office — all requesting anonymity to discuss internal information — described a rush by senior employees and managers to leave the USDA before the expected reductions in force sweep still more out of their jobs.

The extent of the coming cuts depends on how many take the buyout and an early retirement offer, employees said.

Forest Service buyouts are roughly equal to the number who were caught up in the earlier firing of probationary employees that landed the administration in court. That ongoing dispute has wavered between court rulings, one ordering employees reinstated and a more recent upholding the firings.

“Basically, they managed to run off as many as they illegally fired,” a Forest Service employee told POLITICO’s E&E News.

The administration has said the shedding of employees will help the USDA refocus on its core mission without sacrificing key services, and that those who lose their jobs will be treated respectfully.

Some workers — such as wildfire fighters at the Forest Service or others deemed essential — weren’t eligible for buyouts. But beyond them, the USDA employs thousands of people in offices around the country who advise farmers on conservation, study pests and diseases that can threaten the food supply, and help rural communities develop clean water and sewage systems.

The reduction in force could reshape the mission of agencies like the Forest Service, where officials appear to be targeting the Washington headquarters, research facilities and regional offices, according to current and former Forest Service employees who’ve seen or been briefed on the possibilities.

Biologists in particular at the Forest Service appear vulnerable, said a current employee who’s viewed lists of positions and organizational charts to be used in determining the reductions.

The mass resignations and firings spurred House Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) on Wednesday to repeat earlier warnings that the administration risks losing some of its most experienced people, undermining the stated goal of efficiency.

Although new, younger employees may eventually fill positions being vacated, Thompson told reporters, “there’s a learning curve when you come in.” He added, “If nothing else, we ought to encourage the most experienced folks to stick around to basically pass on their wisdom.”

But Thompson said he’s not surprised that management-level employees would take an offer to leave. “If you were offered a sweetheart buyout, would you do it?” Thompson said. “Most people would.”

Source: E&E News / Marc Heller