Over 15,000 USDA Employees Take Trump's Voluntary Resignation Offer In Massive Buyouts. Here's Why

More than 15,000 employees at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have accepted financial incentives to resign, marking one of the largest workforce reductions in the department’s history. According to multiple sources familiar with internal briefings, many employees chose to leave not just for the payout, which includes continued pay through September, but because of an atmosphere described by staff as one of surveillance, pressure, and fear.

One person with direct knowledge of agency dynamics told POLITICO that employees were leaving “because of the climate, not the compensation.” The departures hit nearly every corner of the USDA, from food safety inspectors and conservation workers to researchers and nutrition program staff. The U.S. Forest Service took one of the biggest hits, with more than 4,000 employees accepting the deferred resignation option.

Many of these employees supported frontline services like SNAP, meat inspection, rural development, and wildfire prevention. Some programs are now facing potential operational setbacks as seasoned and knowledgeable personnel walk out the door.

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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said her goal is to make the agency “more effective and efficient,” blaming the prior administration for hiring surges that were financially unsustainable. Still, critics argue that the cuts disproportionately affect critical services and rural communities.

While the administration has fired or incentivized the departure of hundreds of thousands of federal workers across agencies, the scale of USDA resignations, roughly 15% of its workforce, signals more than just budget trimming. It reflects a fundamental restructuring of how the federal government delivers agricultural and nutritional support in the US.

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