USDA's Rice Tells Court Beltsville Will Stay Open as Rollins Presses Restructuring

USDA is publicly pushing a restructuring plan while its own court filing says the Beltsville facility will remain open.

On Oct. 14, a federal judge in California ordered the administration to pause plans to close the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, a 6,500-acre site that has long been the country's leading agricultural research facility.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said on Oct. 22 that the department was moving ahead with its restructuring plan, which includes relocating employees. The administration says the plan will cut costs and place officials closer to the communities they serve.

Mary Pletcher Rice, the acting principal deputy assistant secretary for administration, filed a declaration with a federal court on the same day. She wrote that USDA "will not close or consolidate the resources or locations of any [Agricultural Research Service] laboratory or facility including the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center."

The declaration states that USDA, with General Services Administration approval, extended the effective date of facility closures to Dec. 11, 2026. That date corresponds with the expiration of a spending bill that bars the administration from reorganizing or relocating offices or employees without congressional approval.

The Center's future is also tied to its budget. Officials estimate that 1,000 jobs are at risk if the restructuring moves forward. Researchers at Beltsville bred the first commercially available turkey and developed the Roma tomato.

Representative Glenn Ivey, whose district includes Beltsville and other Prince George's County jurisdictions, said the administration's public statements differ from its sworn filings. He said he is pursuing legislative measures to extend the closure deadline beyond Dec. 11. He is also considering legislative oversight, depending on what happens Nov. 3, when Democrats could take control of the U.S. House.

A USDA spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the department has long suffered from inadequate funding, staffing and management of its facilities and resources. The spokesperson said the reorganization plan would increase the number of agency employees in Prince George's County but did not provide specific numbers.

Beltsville employees have told NBC4 Washington that some colleagues had already relocated before the court pause. The center's work includes collaborations with NASA, NOAA and the University of Maryland on crop efficiency and climate change research.