Overview
- U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday stopping USDA from closing offices or forcing employees to move outside their local commuting areas while the lawsuit continues.
- The order covers multiple USDA components, including the planned move of the U.S. Forest Service headquarters to Salt Lake City, and pauses relocations that could affect roughly 2,600 employees.
- Chhabria concluded USDA likely used appropriated funds for purposes Congress did not authorize, a practice courts call “reprogramming,” and he relied on recent appropriations language that sought to restrict agency reorganizations.
- The government can appeal the ruling to the Ninth Circuit and USDA has said it is reviewing options, and Congress can also remove or change the disputed appropriations language before it expires on Dec. 11, 2026.
- Unions and advocacy groups that sued warned the reorganization could disrupt food assistance, wildfire work and research, and the judge cited past agency relocations and survey data showing many staff would decline to move as reasons the pause serves the public interest.