Overview
- U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria on Tuesday issued a preliminary stay that bars USDA from closing regional offices, moving employees outside their local commuting areas, and spending appropriated funds on the challenged reorganization while litigation continues.
- The order covers multiple components including the Forest Service and the Food and Nutrition Service and affects roughly 2,600 positions that USDA had targeted for relocation or consolidation.
- Chhabria found strong evidence that the department’s plan amounts to 'reprogramming' funds contrary to fiscal 2026 appropriations language that restricts reorganizations without Appropriations Committee approval.
- The stay does not force the return of employees moved before an earlier Sept. 14 administrative pause and still allows intra–Washington, D.C. reassignments, but unions say forced moves would prompt many staff to quit and disrupt services such as SNAP and wildfire work.
- The administration is expected to appeal and Congress could alter the outcome because the spending restrictions at issue expire on Dec. 11, creating an imminent legal and political decision point.