If a House Appropriations subcommittee has its way, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue would be barred from moving two USDA research agencies out of Washington. The Democrat-controlled panel is scheduled to vote today on a $153-billion USDA funding bill that expressly prohibits any expenditure to relocate the Economic Research Service or the National Institute of Food and Agriculture during the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1.
Perdue announced the relocation plan last August and says he wants to complete the move this year. “The final decision will be announced in due time,” said a USDA spokesperson when asked if Perdue would name the new locations for the agencies this month. There are three finalists: the Kansas City area, the “research triangle” of North Carolina, and undisclosed sites in Indiana.
Some opponents of the move say Perdue could evade a congressional prohibition by carrying out the relocation before the spending bill becomes law.
Early this year, Congress said it was premature for the USDA to move the agencies and asked for an analysis of the research benefits that could be expected from the initiative. Lawmakers said the USDA has not provided that analysis. Perdue says the USDA would save money on rent and salaries, have an easier time recruiting staff, and put analysts closer to “stakeholders” if the agencies move. The initiative is opposed by an array of scientific groups and former USDA officials. The White House has proposed slashing staff and funding for the Economic Research Service, and some opponents see relocation as part of an effort to weaken the USDA’s science arm.
The prohibition on moving the agencies is written into the body of the funding bill. For example, the bill allots $87.8 million for the research service and says that “the term ‘necessary expenses’ does not include any expenditure of funds to relocate the Economic Research Service outside the National Capital Region.” A few pages later, the bill refers to $1 billion provided for NIFA and says that “none of these funds may be used to relocate the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.”
To read a committee description of the USDA bill, click here.
The text of the bill is available here.