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The bill is in response to a recent directive requiring federal agencies to propose moving some of their bureaus and offices to more affordable areas of the country.
WASHINGTON — Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is pushing back against proposals to relocate federal agencies from D.C., introducing a bill that would require congressional approval before any federal agency headquarters can be moved outside the National Capital Region.
The bill, called the Protecting Federal Agencies and Employees from Political Interference Act, is in response to the Trump administration's recent directive requiring federal agencies to propose moving some of their bureaus and offices to more affordable regions of the country from the D.C. area.
Multiple agencies were relocated during President Donald Trump’s first term, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which were moved to Kansas City. In Norton’s introduction of the bill, she writes that these relocations led to a significant loss of institutional knowledge and expert staff, hampering the agencies' ability to carry out essential functions, according to a 2022 Government Accountability Office report.
“The Trump administration is engaging in an open war against federal employees, using illegal tactics to fire dedicated public servants without cause and using intimidation, threats and fear to force compliance with wasteful directives that demonstrate a deep-seated misunderstanding of how our government operates,” Norton said.
She pointed to the relocation of Bureau of Land Management wildfire staff in the 1990s, which was reversed after Congress brought them back to D.C. for wildfire briefings. The BLM was also moved again in August 2020 under the direction of the first Trump administration — which, too, was reversed under the Biden administration.
“We can have a discussion on ways to make government work better, but politicians throwing cheap shots at the nation’s capital and surrounding region, where thousands of expert public servants — and their families — live and work, should not be part of that discussion,” Norton said.
When agencies move, employees are asked to move as well. The new directive to potentially relocate agencies throughout the country joins the Trump administration attempts to shrink the federal government.
As a non-voting delegate, Norton can introduce bills but not vote for them. She urged her colleagues in Congress to support the bill.
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