Agency watchdog report says USDA may have broken law by moving research agencies to Kansas City - Entrepreneur Generations

The U.S. Department of Agriculture might have broken the law by moving two key research agencies from Washington D.C. to Kansas City without getting congressional approval first, according to a report issued Monday by USDA's internal watchdog. "But with lawmakers out of town for the long August recess and the relocation already underway, it’s unclear if the findings will have much impact," Ryan McCrimmon reports for Politico's Morning Agriculture.

The USDA's inspector general report found that officials have the legal authority to relocate the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, but may not have had the budget to carry it out. "For example, investigators said USDA failed to meet a 60-day deadline to report to Congress how the department intended to use $6 million provided for NIFA relocation expenses in a fiscal 2018 spending package," McCrimmon reports. "USDA General Counsel Stephen Vaden said in a July memo that the appropriations provisions requiring Congress to sign off on the move were unconstitutional, so the department did follow the law."

Though the report could provide ammo for opponents of the controversial move, it may be too late too affect much. A little over half the employees are scheduled to be relocated by Sept. 1, and the rest will be there by Sept. 30. Congress doesn't reconvene until Sept. 9, McCrimmon reports.

"The report also doesn’t answer some of the biggest questions about the motivations behind the move . . . including whether officials were retaliating against the agencies for their scientific reports that are sometimes unflattering to Trump administration policies," McCrimmon reports. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has said the move will save money and will help attract and retain employees, but ag economists say the move will cost taxpayers millions of dollars and result in widespread employee attrition.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2YNL5LA Agency watchdog report says USDA may have broken law by moving research agencies to Kansas City - Entrepreneur Generations

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