More than 12,000 USDA employees may be leaving after accepting buyout offers from the Trump administration.
The numbers include 3,000 from the Forest Service and 1,200 from APHIS. This could amount to more than 10% of the department’s workforce.
The buyouts include paid leave until resignations take effect in September.
The Supreme Court recently allowed the administration to move forward with firing about 16,000 probationary federal workers, some from the USDA.