California lawmakers urge USDA to rescind plan to close nine agency offices
A coalition of California lawmakers is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reverse its decision to close nine agency offices in the state as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to cut costs.
The USDA field offices house programs that provide services, including disaster assistance, conservation of natural resources and helping farmers market their crops.
In the May 14 letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Acting Administrator of the General Services Administration Stephen Ehikian, the lawmakers said the closure of the offices will place an additional burden on California farmers who are already struggling with an uncertain market, low commodity prices and higher production costs.
“California is the nation’s largest agricultural state. In 2023 alone, California’s farms received $59.4 billion in cash receipts for their output. Closure of these offices would severely hamper USDA’s ability to support farmers imperative to California’s agricultural success,” the letter said.
But late Thursday, a USDA spokesperson clarified its plans, adding that Secretary Rollins has made it clear that she has no plans to close FSA county offices as they are “front line USDA offices that serve farmers across the country.”
“We understand GSA has undertaken a process to review and consolidate current leases across the country. We have identified certain offices, including Bakersfield and Salinas, as critical offices and have asked GSA to rescind the office closure notifications. Additionally, on other office leases that GSA has slated to end, we are working with GSA to identify where there are multiple leases/facilities available in the nearby area to consolidate the offices. All services are continuing to be conducted,” the spokesperson said.
Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was terminating the leases of California USDA field offices in Bakersfield, Blythe, Los Angeles, Madera, Mt. Shasta, Oxnard, Salinas, Woodland and Yreka. These USDA offices housed the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, Forest Service and Agricultural Marketing Service.
For some farmers in Kern County, who annually produce billions of dollars worth of produce, they will have to drive more than an hour to Lancaster or Visalia to access USDA programs, according to the letter.
The lawmakers were also concerned about the upheaval created by staffing cuts associated with the closures. It is unclear how many USDA employees are impacted.
“For those who staff these offices, closures would mean uprooting their lives. It would also put additional stress on the remaining USDA workforce that is already experiencing significant losses due to terminations and early retirement. Beyond that, closing USDA county offices harms the local economies of rural regions across the country by disrupting USDA employees’ contribution to their communities and inhibiting farmers’ ability to access USDA programs.”
Signing the letter were Sen. Adam Schiff, D-CA, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced. The letter was also signed by California representatives Salud Carbajal, Jared Huffman, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Zoe Lofgren, and Jimmy Panetta.
California lawmakers also raised concerns in February about federal budget cuts that jeopardized a California grape breeding program in Fresno County.
Several key researchers were fired at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Parlier.
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 2:29 PM.
