(NAFB.com) – More than 15,000 USDA employees have taken one of the Trump administration’s two financial incentive offers to leave the agency, according to a readout from a USDA briefing with congressional staff seen by Reuters. The sum represents about 15% of the USDA’s total workforce. President Donald Trump’s administration has offered federal employees several months of pay and benefits if they opt to leave their jobs as part of his effort to shrink the federal workforce. The numbers could rise over the next month because employees over 40 were given more time to decide whether to leave. A USDA spokesperson confirmed the total number of staff departures and said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is working to make the agency more efficient. Rollins has exempted 53 position classifications from the ongoing federal hiring freeze, including wildland firefighters, veterinarians and food safety inspectors, to ensure critical agency functions continue, according to the spokesperson.
