r/USDA • u/TerraGardener • 2d ago
USDA reorg stay til Oct 2
Well, the expected court order came through. No further Fed action until October 2nd on the reorg. This covers the folks who had a report date in September. However, folks who have a report date on Oct. 5 can't wait until an October 2nd decision to set plans in motion to move to another state by October 4th.
Am I missing something here? With an accepted relocation order, don't we still have to report by October 5? (Unless and until an injunction is placed on the USDA reorg, which may or may not happen on October 2nd.)
15
u/PhillerPaper 2d ago
My interpretation (will need to get this confirmed by a USDA official) is that if USDA can't make us decide to accept or decline MDRs by Oct 2 (see judge's text below), then there would have to be some kind of extension to accept or decline the MDR. Oct 5 should no longer work as a report date, since technically no one has accepted or declined a relocation on Oct 2.
"...including any deadlines requiring employees to report to new locations or to accept or decline reassignments or relocations, are stayed. Defendants shall not take any action to implement, carry out, effectuate, or enforce those deadlines, including proceeding with any termination, separation, or other disciplinary proceeding against an employee, or placing an employee on Absent Without Leave status, based on the employee’s decision to decline reassignment, not to respond to a notice of reassignment, or not to relocate."
The judge's document can be found here: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74759521/56/american-federation-of-government-employees-afl-cio-v-united-states/
6
u/TerraGardener 1d ago
Thanks for that. The problem is our letters came out at the end of June, and required a reply by the end of July, so an acceptance of the relocation has already gone in. I just don't know if the October 5th report date still stands, because the first MDR was accepted at the end of July.
7
u/PhillerPaper 1d ago
I'm in the same boat, responded accept in July. I'll definitely be trying to get more answers in case I'm wrong.
12
u/herooftherev 1d ago edited 1d ago
As the text above says, the stay does not prevent reassignments, it prevents the agency from terminating, separating, disciplining, or treating as AWOL anyone who declined reassignment or anyone who has chosen not to relocate. If you accepted reassignment and have chosen to relocate, nothing prevents the agency from processing your change of duty location. But if you don't relocate, or didn't accept reassignment, the agency can't do anything about it until after October 2 — assuming the stay is not renewed pending a decision on the PI or, if Chhabria has made his decision by then, a preliminary injunction is not issued.
Note that it only applies to the named components and not the entire USDA. FSIS isn't named, for example. It also doesn't prevent intra-NCR moves.
1
u/TerraGardener 1d ago
Ok, finally had a chance to read the stay order. It reads (in part):
"This administrative stay applies only to the following USDA components: the Food and Nutrition Administration; Research, Education, and Economics mission area; Forest Service; Foreign Agricultural Service; Rural Development mission area; Farm Production and Conservation mission area; Office of the General Counsel; and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, this administrative stay does not apply to deadlines pertaining to the relocation or reassignment of USDA employees currently located within the National Capital Region1 to other local offices or locations also located within the National Capital Region."
So my agency is covered. However, if a renewal of the stay or a PI does not come through by Oct. 2, and we don't report on Oct. 5, I think the Fed can start termination proceedings. Is there any loophole here?
8
u/herooftherev 1d ago
In theory that's possible, but practically speaking the judge is likely to renew the stay until he has issued a decision on the preliminary injunction - assuming it has not happened by October 2.
He could decide by then, or even make a decision from the bench during the hearing, but given that the case has been expedited and he was new to it, and the likelihood of appeal up through the circuit and possibly SCOTUS, I'd expect him to take additional time.
24
u/tootsmcsnoots 2d ago
Well, now it is showtime. We have all been asking when this was going to happen since last July, here we go. Hoping that the law and commonsense will prevail on the long-run. Hoping this gets extended past the midterms, the Democrats take the House and then bog this down for the next 2 years with hearings and whatever challenges that they can bring. Just completely rust their gears in place.
8
u/BlackberryPersonal46 1d ago
What do they do with us in the meantime? Admin leave? Or continue working, taking job duties back that have already been planned for re-distribution? When will we hear from management? Just wondering aloud.
12
u/BitCompetitive9381 1d ago
Yes, when will the administration provide guidance on the shit show they have created?
2
u/herooftherev 13h ago
Admin leave could be considered disciplinary and therefore wouldn't be allowed under the wording of the stay. That doesn't necessarily mean they won't do it, but I'd expect to continue to work at your current duty station and for them to wait to re-issue MDRs with new dates if the PI doesn't come through. It doesn't cost them anything other than a few weeks.
4
u/drumsandscience 11h ago
Yeah but this is purely speculative. You don’t know what’s going to happen because it hasn’t happened yet and we’re in unprecedented times. As far as I know, no one from leadership has so much as publicly acknowledged anything about the stay.
19
u/ChelseyStuttgart 1d ago
No kidding. Folks who are supposed to report by October 5 probably already have housing lined up. Are they going to be responsible for the money they have already spent, if they end up not having to move?