67b795648a3940e9717f77c8 Usdaadobestock 599878417 Editorial Use Only

USDA Scrambling to Rehire Fired Employees Working on Bird Flu

Feb. 20, 2025

Ag secretary’s ‘bold action’ backfires; meanwhile, egg prices hit a record $7.99 a dozen.

“Secretary Rollins Takes Bold Action to Stop Wasteful Spending” was the headline of a USDA announcement on Feb. 14, which announced layoffs in the Agriculture Dept. Today, the agency is undoing part of those bold actions, trying to rehire employees who were working on bird flu.

"Although several positions supporting [bird flu efforts] were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters," a USDA spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News. None of the news stories we saw said how many employees were affected.

“USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission," the USDA statement to NBC said.

After millions of chickens across the country have been killed because of avian influenza, egg prices hit a record of $7.99 a dozen in mid-February, according to eggprices.org, which pulls data from USDA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

NBC also reported a number of Republican lawmakers from agricultural states were growing concerned with the widespread layoffs. They privately warned the Trump administration that such cuts could hamper the government’s bird flu response and asked him to reconsider.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.