As the Trump administration marches forward with its plan to dramatically slash the federal workforce, agencies are bidding farewell to employees who have agreed to resign now in exchange for pay and benefits through September.
But at least one agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is already scrambling to fill some of those newly vacant roles, according to internal communications seen by NPR.
On Thursday, a day after the departure of hundreds of employees who accepted the deferred resignation offer, remaining APHIS employees received an email from human resources announcing "lateral transfer opportunities." Qualified employees are invited to apply by Tuesday for 73 open positions "that are especially critical to fill as soon as possible," the email said.
The agency is looking for scientists, budget analysts, technicians, inspectors, and a veterinarian to carry out its mission to protect the health, welfare, and value of America's plants, animals, and natural resources.
The immediate posting of these jobs has infuriated employees who took the deferred resignation offer out of fear that their positions would be eliminated.
"We are now all at home, being paid to stay home while they announce, less than 24 hours later, our jobs," said one APHIS employee who accepted deferred resignation and now sees their position on the list of openings. "What logic metric is being used to justify this?"
The employee, whose role involved ensuring that agricultural commodities entering the U.S. are both legal and safe, agreed to speak with NPR on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal for speaking to the media.
On the hook for two salaries
In filling jobs that are open due to voluntary resignations, the government will effectively be on the hook for two salary-and-benefit packages through the end of September — one for the person newly moving into the job, and one for the person who was paid to leave that job.
It's not clear what will happen to the roles that are vacated by employees who move to the newly opened positions.
It's also not clear if all 73 open positions had been occupied by people who accepted the deferred resignation offer. The email to employees explained that APHIS had been approved to fill a limited number of positions "given the impact of recent and upcoming staff departures."
NPR asked the USDA press office to explain the rationale for offering employees in mission-critical positions the chance to resign with five months of pay and benefits, and how their replacements would be funded during those months. Most APHIS positions are funded through fees paid by importers and other entities that use the agency's services, not Congressional appropriations.
The agency declined to answer those questions and instead sent a statement.
"Under President Trump's leadership, USDA is being transparent about plans to optimize and reduce our workforce and to return the Department to a customer service focused, farmer first agency," the statement said. "While Secretary Rollins is actively pursuing plans to reduce USDA's workforce to better serve the needs of the people we serve, she will not compromise the critical work of the Department, including its ongoing work to protect American agriculture from foreign disease and pests."
Fear of being fired led to resignation
The APHIS employee who spoke to NPR said they never wanted to leave their job. They'd been with the government for about eight years.
The employee took pride in the role they played, protecting American agriculture from invasive plants, pests and diseases and ensuring the safety of imported food products headed for supermarkets.
They did not consider leaving when the first deferred resignation offer was rolled out days after President Trump's inauguration. But eventually, they bowed to what they describe as "relentless attempts" over the past few months to get employees to quit.
The overriding message, the employee said, was basically — "You should take the [deferred resignation offer] before we fire you. It's really the best option for you."
With no information on USDA's restructuring plans coming from management, and conflicting information over whether mission-critical roles would be spared in layoffs, the employee became increasingly fearful that no APHIS job was safe.
"My understanding from management was there was no guarantee," the employee said.
Fueling the unease was the fact that there were deep cuts happening elsewhere. In late March, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a reduction in force, or RIF, of 10,000 employees, as part of what the agency called a "dramatic restructuring."
"Just like anyone else, our fear was that we would be RIF'd regardless of how mission-critical we were," the APHIS employee said.
Around that same time, Trump signed an executive order ending collective bargaining rights for wide swaths of the federal workforce, including everyone at APHIS, citing national security concerns. Days later, employees were told their union would no longer be recognized.
"Now we have no workers' rights," the employee remembers thinking.
So when USDA reopened its deferred resignation offer on April 1 and gave employees a week to decide whether to opt in, the employee decided it was best to leave.
"By that point, I was so terrified," they said.
Since then, a federal judge has halted Trump's executive order on collective bargaining, and even before that, APHIS had informed at least one of the unions representing its employees, the National Association of Agriculture Employees (NAAE), that the agency would once again recognize the union.
Concerns about mass departures were brewing
Even before now, there were signs that senior leaders at APHIS were concerned about the large number of people departing the agency.
On April 23, some employees who had accepted the second deferred resignation offer, including entomologists, botanists and quarantine staff with APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine program, received an email from agency leaders, inviting them to change their minds and stay in their jobs.
"While staffing levels will be reduced in other areas … your mission critical position will not be affected," the message promised.
But not everyone got this offer. The APHIS employee who spoke with NPR surmises that people working in less visible positions, away from the ports where goods are inspected, were excluded, despite the important role they play in providing those on the frontlines with critical information in real time.
The employee considers that an oversight, given how much their colleagues at the ports rely on them.
"It would be like cutting off the jobs of all the 911 operators and leaving the police on the street," they said.
Armando Rosario-Lebron, the union's eastern regional vice president, says the union broadly supports lateral moves and even has procedures for how they should be carried out in its collective bargaining agreement with APHIS.
"We have nothing against laterals as an instrument for workforce balancing," he says.
What the union finds objectionable is the timing, Rosario-Lebron says, with opportunities rolled out a day after people left their jobs, and without any notice given to the union.
Nevertheless, the job opportunities have been posted. Qualified applicants — those with relevant experience as well as the licensure and certifications to perform the work — have until 11:59 pm ET on May 6 to apply for the new positions, according to internal communications. Reassignments take effect May 18, with employees reporting to their new positions May 19.
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