US Agriculture Department sheds a fifth of its staff

The Agriculture Department lost nearly one-fifth of its workforce in the first half of this year, according to a watchdog report that offers a snapshot of the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the federal bureaucracy.

- LINDA QIU

From January to June, more than 20,000 employees left the agency out of more than 110,000, including 15,114 who accepted a voluntary resignation offer, according to the report, which was compiled by the agency's Office of the Inspector General.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, gives a detailed account of drastic personnel changes at the Agriculture Department as the Trump administration made deep cuts across the government in its bid to revamp the federal bureaucracy.

Since the report does not include resignations or terminations that occurred in the second half of the year, the scale of attrition may be even greater. In July, for example, the Agriculture Department announced an agency-wide reorganisation that top officials said would lead to more resignations.