Trump administration reverses course on California USDA office closures

California – The Trump administration has withdrawn its plan to shutter eight U.S. Department of Agriculture offices across California, a reversal that follows vocal opposition from a coalition of Democratic lawmakers who warned the closures would undermine vital support for the state’s farming communities.

In a letter dated May 30, Brooke Rollins, head of the USDA, confirmed that the agency would rescind lease termination notices for offices in Bakersfield, Blythe, Los Angeles, Madera, Oxnard, Salinas, Woodland, and Yreka. The decision came two weeks after members of California’s congressional delegation—led by Sen. Adam Schiff—urged the administration to reconsider what they described as a short-sighted and potentially damaging move.

“Closure of these offices would severely hamper USDA’s ability to support farmers imperative to California’s agricultural success,” the lawmakers wrote in a May 14 letter to Rollins and Stephen Ehikian, acting administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA).

The original plan to close the offices stemmed from a broader cost-cutting initiative overseen by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an informal but powerful body previously chaired by Elon Musk. Since stepping down, Musk’s tenure has left a legacy of sweeping cuts across numerous federal agencies—particularly in California—affecting offices tied to science, agriculture, and environmental regulation.

According to the DOGE database, the targeted USDA offices represented a combined annual lease cost of $809,000. They housed a range of federal programs, including the Farm Services Agency, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. But lawmakers argued that these offices do far more than occupy square footage—they serve as essential lifelines to the nation’s largest agricultural state.

California’s agricultural sector brought in nearly $59.4 billion in cash receipts in 2023, underscoring the state’s outsize role in the national food economy. The state’s delegation warned that removing physical USDA presence from farming communities would erode access to federal loans, grants, and technical assistance—especially for small-scale producers navigating increasing uncertainty.

“Closing these vital centers will make it more difficult for farmers to access the essential resources farmers must be able to rely on,” the lawmakers wrote. They noted the added strain of funding freezes, global tariffs, and supply chain disruptions, all of which have complicated the lives of producers in recent years.

Signatories to the letter included Reps. Salud Carbajal, Jim Costa, Adam Gray, Jimmy Panetta, Jared Huffman, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and Zoe Lofgren—each representing agricultural regions where USDA offices had been on the chopping block.

The only closure still under consideration is a 536-square-foot U.S. Forest Service outpost in Mt. Shasta, which has an annual lease cost of $12,000. Rollins said the agency is still determining whether services from that office can be relocated or restructured in a more efficient setting.

“The USDA supports optimizing building capacity and consolidating underutilized offices to reduce inefficiencies, while continuing to prioritize frontline services for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” Rollins wrote in her response.

Sen. Schiff, who has emerged as one of the state’s leading defenders of agricultural infrastructure, praised the administration’s decision to reverse course.

“I would like to thank Secretary Rollins for engaging with us to ensure that Californians have access to these crucial services,” Schiff said in a statement. “I will keep pushing the administration to ensure that critical USDA offices in California continue to operate without interruption.”

While the USDA’s reversal averts an immediate disruption, the episode illustrates a growing tension between efforts to streamline federal operations and the real-world impact of those cuts on rural and working communities.