WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry – questioned U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Alexander Vaden on USDA’s reorganization plan. Under USDA’s proposed plan, which was announced last week, the agency would relocate staff to five hub locations: Kansas City, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

“I express my appreciation for the idea that work by federal employees and work for federal taxpayers and constituents, particularly farmers and ranchers, can be accomplished outside the D.C. area,” said Sen. Moran. “I’ve been through this issue with you previously in the earlier administration and was pleased by the decision to have two research agencies relocated in Kansas City."

During the hearing, Sen. Moran emphasized to the Deputy Secretary that the USDA employees being relocated should be required to appear in person and not work remotely.

He also pressed the Deputy Secretary for his assurance that USDA’s Kansas City Commodity Office will continue to play a role in the function of international food aid programs, including Food for Peace, and invited him to visit USDA’s National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas.

In the first Trump administration, USDA relocated the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) from Washington, D.C. to Kansas City. 

Watch Sen. Moran’s Full Remarks HERE

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