Attorney General Bonta Co-Leads Coalition Opposing Trump Administration’s Attempt to Gut U.S. Department of Agriculture

OAKLAND — Co-leading a coalition of 21 attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta yesterday filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s thinly veiled attempt to drive large numbers of employees to resign by forcing them to move across the country. The brief supports a motion for a preliminary injunction in American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, et al. v. Trump, et al., a case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that USDA’s “reorganization” would not benefit the agency or the states. Instead, it would harm California and other states that partner with USDA on essential programs to prevent wildfires, protect food safety and security, and administer food assistance to our most vulnerable residents.

In the brief, the coalition urges the Northern District of California to protect states from this imminent harm by continuing to block the USDA’s wrongheaded and cruel reorganization plan. Attorney General Bonta and the coalition join the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, the City and County of San Francisco, the County of Santa Clara, and many other labor organizations, counties, municipalities, nonprofits, and member organizations around the country challenging the proposed USDA reorganization. 

“The Trump Administration is trying to force essential public servants to choose between uprooting their lives — in many cases, by moving across the country — or losing their jobs,” said Attorney General Bonta. “If allowed to proceed, this reckless plan would make it harder for states to prevent wildfires, protect our food supply, and provide nutrition assistance to families who need it. The court has already blocked this plan, and we firmly believe it should stay blocked.” 

California and local governments across the state depend upon the USDA Forest Service (Forest Service) for wildfire prevention, wildfire response, land-management partnerships, and scientific expertise. As Forest Service personnel are pushed out, the agency will have reduced capacity and lose specialized expertise, exposing California lands and communities to unnecessary harm. Since 2025, California alone has battled more than 13,000 wildfires that scorched over 800,000 acres of land, including heartbreaking disasters like the Palisades and Eaton Fires that devastated the Los Angeles area. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and municipal firefighting departments rely on their strong partnership with the Forest Service to protect California’s residents and communities from wildfire. The proposed USDA reorganization threatens Forest Service readiness, risking further harm to California residents who already are anxious about wildfire hazards.   

California also relies on USDA Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA) personnel for program administration, guidance, funding, oversight, and coordination. The reorganization threatens California’s ability to efficiently administer critical nutrition-assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), child and school-based nutrition programs, and nutrition-related disaster assistance. CalFresh and other California agencies depend on FNA staff to help provide these vital benefits to our most vulnerable residents. The USDA reorganization nearly ensures that experienced FNA staff will leave the agency, depriving all states of benefits assistance that FNA must provide.  

Similarly, California and other states rely on USDA research agencies for information and data concerning agriculture, food production, conservation, pests, plant and animal health, and food safety. The USDA plans to close the flagship Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Maryland, which has been the home of the Agricultural Research Service and is widely regarded as one of the most advanced and influential agricultural research centers in the world. Shuttering this lab would harm not just agriculture, but public health. Scientists at BARC are currently studying cyclospora, a foodborne parasite that can cause severe illness. The United States is currently in the midst of the worst cyclospora outbreak on record. Every scientist on at least one cyclospora project at BARC has declined to move across the country and will instead be forced to resign from USDA, leaving the future of this crucial research uncertain. 

The Trump Administration has repeatedly tried to dramatically slash protections and programs that states and people rely on, including food safety, environmental protection, natural disaster funding, and funding for victims of crime. In the case of USDA, over 75% of employees at some programs have stated they were more likely to leave the agency than uproot their lives and relocate, in many cases to new offices or facilities hundreds of miles away that are ill-equipped to support their core job functions. This reorganization would force large numbers of employees to choose between moving across the country despite family and personal obligations — and in many cases taking a significant pay cut — or quitting their jobs. The coalition’s brief highlights the harms to public health and safety that would follow and urges the court to protect these programs and employees.

This brief was led by the attorneys general of California, Maryland, and Washington. They were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.