Congressman Suhas Subramanyam and Senator Chris Van Hollen Introduce the COST of Relocations Act to Push Back Against the Trump Administration’s Attempts to Relocate Federal Agencies
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced the COST of Relocations Act to push back against President Trump and his administration’s relentless effort to relocate federal agencies and decimate their workforces. The legislation would require a cost-benefit analysis to be submitted to Congress in order to ensure that any attempt to move federal agencies is appropriately analyzed to guarantee it is in the best interest of the taxpayer and the agency’s mission.
“We must stop the Trump administration’s politically motivated attempts to waste taxpayer dollars by unnecessarily moving federal agencies,” said Congressman Suhas Subramanyam. “Our bill ensures that before any agency is moved, we can protect the American people by doing a thorough analysis based on logic, the best interest of taxpayers, and the agency’s mission. These decisions should be based on what’s best for the American people, not political retribution.”
“Across government, federal agencies and the civil servants who power them provide essential services for Americans across the country. Abruptly uprooting those agencies for political reasons not only endangers their critical missions, it’s also a waste of taxpayer dollars. This bill ensures that big decisions like these are made thoughtfully and driven by the best interests of the American people and their tax dollars,” said Senator Van Hollen.
During the first Trump administration, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) relocated both the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) from Washington, DC to Kansas City, MO. A GAO study of these relocations found that these relocations had significant impacts on both agencies’ staffing and productivity, including:
- The loss of over a third of each agency’s permanent full-time staff following the announcement of the relocation in 2018.
- A significant loss of experience, with staff with more than two years of experience declining from 83% of both agencies’ combined workforces in 2018 to 27% in 2021.
- Declines in productivity, with ERS issuing fewer key reports and NIFA taking over a month longer to process and fund competitive grants in 2019.
GAO also found that USDA did not follow many leading practices for agency relocations, including a failure to consult with its employees at any point during the process and the exclusion of several key variables, including employee attrition, in its economic analysis to support the relocations. Both agencies have made positive improvements in these areas under the Biden administration, but the damage has already been done and many experienced, dedicated federal workers were essentially removed from their jobs.
In a similar situation, the GAO also concluded that the Bureau of Land Management did not conduct a full cost benefit analysis when it relocated its workforce out of the North Capital Region in 2019, and the Department of the Interior’s Inspector General called the agency “misleading” in its justification of the move.
This legislation will ensure that agencies seeking to relocate conduct an analysis in line with the federal guidelines of best practices for conducting cost-benefit analyses. These standards look not only at the quantitative data, such as the costs of real estate and staffing, but also qualitative metrics such as employee attrition and the short- and long-term impacts of the agency’s ability to carry out its mission. The analysis would be made public as well as submitted to the agency’s Inspector General for review.
Congress and taxpayers deserve to know how agency relocations will benefit the American people.
The COST of Relocations Act is supported by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), along with Representatives Steny Hoyer (D-MD-5), Gerry Conolly (D-VA-11), Don Beyer (D-VA-8), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Glenn Ivey (D-MD-4), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD-3), Bobby Scott (D-VA-3), Eugene Vindman (D-VA-7), Andre Carson (D-IN-7), Dwight Evans (D-PA-3), Robert Garcia (D-CA-42), Stephen Lynch (D-MA-8), April McClain Delaney (D-MD-6), Dina Titus (D-NV-1), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12).
The legislation is supported by American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Partnership for Public Service, Project on Government Oversight (POGO), and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Today, Congressman Suhas Subramanyam and Senator Chris Van Hollen held a press conference with their Democratic colleagues, Representatives Steny Hoyer (D-MD-5), Don Beyer (D-VA-8), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD-3), and Eugene Vindman (D-VA-7) to discuss this legislation. Video of their remarks can be watched here.
A former Policy Advisor to President Barack Obama, Congressman Subramanyam served in the Virginia General Assembly since first getting elected in 2019. In Richmond, Subramanyam founded the bipartisan "Commonwealth Caucus” – a bipartisan group of legislators focused on finding common ground. He passed landmark legislation to lower toll costs for commuters, issue refunds to overcharged consumers, combat the rise in gun violence, and ensure all students have access to the best educational opportunities. He is a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs, and a member of the House’s Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Subramanyam served as a volunteer firefighter and EMT in Loudoun. He lives in Ashburn, Virginia, with his wife, Miranda, and their two daughters, Maya (5) and Nina (3).
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