Statement of Aisha N. Braveboy, County Executive, On USDA/BARC Decision

I applaud the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which granted a stay pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 705, halting the Trump Administration’s effort to restructure and reorganize the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The court’s decision will stop the Administration’s attempt to permanently close the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Prince George’s County. The Trump Administration sought to shut down BARC and transfer its employees to other locations throughout the country. The court’s decision saves an estimated 1,000 jobs that are supported by BARC. BARC’s permanent closure would have caused a roughly $450 million reduction to the gross domestic product of the State of Maryland.

“With 1,000 jobs at stake, we were not going to let Trump shut down BARC without a fight,” said Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy. 

Prince George’s County joined a coalition of federal employee labor unions, local governments and non-profits who sued to stop the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to restructure USDA. The coalition argued that Trump’s plan to downsize USDA was illegal because Congress passed a law that prohibited USDA from moving forward with agency reorganizations and the plan was arbitrary and capricious because it did not study the plan’s impact on USDA’s ability to carry out important statutorily required functions like agricultural research and conservation. The court agreed with the plaintiffs and granted the stay which blocks the Trump Administration from moving forward with its downsizing plan.    

“As County Executive, I will continue to fight for federal employees and federal jobs. We know that people don’t take federal jobs just for the money, they take them because they believe in public service and the important missions of their agencies’ said Braveboy. “I will fight for federal jobs in our County and the wealth and stability that comes with them.”