Employees at the Department of Agriculture must really love living in Washington, DC. They were recently told that their office is being moved to Kansas City and many of them stood up and turned their backs.
The Hill reports:
Federal employees turn their backs on Agriculture secretary after relocation plans announced
Members of the American Federation of Government Employees turned their backs on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday, apparently over plans to relocate them from Washington to the Kansas City area.
Perdue announced Thursday that two of the Department of Agriculture’s research agencies, the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will be relocated to be closer to major farming regions, according to Politico.
While Perdue has justified the relocation as a way to improve customer service and save taxpayers up to $20 million per year, some ERS employees have said it is a political move, according to the publication.
Specifically, some ERS staff have expressed suspicions the relocation is an attempt to shrink the agency and weaken its ability to conduct research that does not align with the Trump administration’s policy agenda.
See the image in the tweet below:
American Federation of Government Employees members from NIFA snd ERS turn backs on Agriculture Secretary Perdue at session on their unwanted relocation from DC to Kansas City area. #USDA pic.twitter.com/40JlVtuXFl
— Jerry Hagstrom (@hagstromreport) June 13, 2019
Some people on Twitter had some thoughts about this:
They're afraid of meeting their farmerhttps://t.co/gKIMTsHiXV
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) June 14, 2019
Look. These people didn’t spend their childhood at Manhattan Preparatory to get into NYU to get their masters at Georgetown and work their way into the department of agriculture to live where the agriculture is.
— Smittie™ GED (Hons), BS (D-) (@smittie61984) June 14, 2019
I hope they quit and get replaced by A&M graduates that know about farming.
— Dustin (@dutoh) June 14, 2019
"I work for the Department of Ag. What the hell is in the midwest that would have any impact on my job?"
— Dorf on Iowa (@DorfOnIowa) June 14, 2019
Their objection really doesn’t make sense.
(Image:Source)
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