By Daniel Wiessner

A group of unions, nonprofits and U.S. municipalities has asked a federal judge to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture's planned reorganization, including the relocation of more than 2,500 employees based in the District of Columbia.

The coalition of plaintiffs said in a in San Francisco federal court late Wednesday that the plan announced earlier this year would hinder the USDA's ability to provide nutritional assistance to women and children, support farmers and ensure the safety of the food supply, among other critical functions.

"USDA also aims to move programs, offices, and research far from the local communities and environments they are intended to serve," the plaintiffs said. "Yet USDA has never grappled with or addressed these overwhelmingly negative impacts."

Led by the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal worker union, the plaintiffs asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to block the USDA from implementing its reorganization plan pending further litigation.

The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

The filing came in a lawsuit filed last year challenging broader efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to downsize and remake the federal bureaucracy, including through mass job cuts. More than 15,000 USDA employees took financial incentives to leave the agency last year.

Illston in May 2025 temporarily blocked the Trump administration from laying off thousands of federal workers. Her ruling was paused by the U.S. Supreme Court, but the administration scaled back planned layoffs after tens of thousands of employees accepted buyouts or retired early to avoid dismissal.

Illston, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, has also temporarily blocked layoffs at the U.S. State Department and, this week, to bar job cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency in light of the agency changing its plans.

After court rulings and a congressional moratorium on layoffs slowed the Trump administration's efforts, the USDA in April announced that it would soon begin moving offices and programs out of the Washington, D.C. area.

Offices involved in economic research and food safety will move to Kansas City, Missouri, the Forest Service will relocate to Salt Lake City, and a new national food safety center with about 200 employees will open in Urbandale, Iowa, the USDA has said.

The unions and other plaintiffs in Wednesday's filing said the agency is forcing workers to choose between moving to far-flung areas or losing their jobs, a move that will likely cause dramatic attrition, impair vital services and interrupt important research. Some workers could be relocated as soon as next month, according to the filing.

The plaintiffs claim the reorganization plan is unlawful because it is arbitrary and capricious and was not authorized by Congress.

The case is American Federation of Government Employees v. Trump, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:25-cv-3698.

For the plaintiffs: Stacey Leyton and Corinne Johnson and others from Altshuler Berzon; Andrea Matthews and others from Democracy Forward; Jules Torti and others from Protect Democracy; Norm Eisen from State Democracy Defenders Fund

For the Trump administration: Andrew Bernie of the U.S. Department of Justice

Read more:

USDA to announce next phase of agency reorganization this week, agriculture secretary says

Trump appeals judge's block on mass layoffs at federal agencies

US judge won't block planned job cuts at FEMA, for now