Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden announced plans to dispose of the USDA South Building and Braddock Place facilities in the Washington, D.C., area as part of a broader departmental reorganization.
Rollins said more than 85% of the South Building is unoccupied and the facility has a $1.6 billion deferred maintenance backlog. She said disposing of the buildings will reduce costs and redirect resources toward the department’s work with farmers and ranchers.
Vaden said the move aligns with a directive from President Donald Trump to relocate federal agencies outside the National Capital Region and to reduce federal real estate holdings. He said the decision marks the start of a wider USDA restructuring aimed at operating within existing financial resources.
