‘Wildly disruptive’: What happened last time Trump moved a federal agency out of DC

The relocation of federal jobs outside Washington, DC , was something Trump embarked on near the end of his first term.

The BLM move became an unproductive debacle marked by an exodus of experienced employees and a surge in vacancies.

The move also complicated the agency’s relationships with Congress and other federal offices.

The Trump administration originally pitched the BLM headquarters’ shift to the West as a way to save money and move staffers closer to the lands and communities they serve.

Most BLM staffers already worked in states outside of DC , but a disproportionate level of senior staffers worked in the nation’s capital.

An inspector general report later found that BLM officials had misled Congress in statements about the relocation.

The relocation of BLM ’s central office, for example, contributed to a vote by BLM headquarters employees to join a union in 2022 .

The current head of the BLM warned that a mass departure of experienced federal workers could hurt, not help, government efficacy.

Future efforts to move federal offices out of DC could lead more federal workers to unionize.