Last Updated: October 4, 2026 Reading Time: 10 min
The USDA relocation stay is still in effect. On October 2, 2026, Judge Vince Chhabria signed an order in AFGE v. USDA extending it through October 13, 2026 for eight named USDA components. The court has not set a date for its ruling on a preliminary injunction. Here is what each possible outcome means for a covered employee holding a relocation letter.
| Your concern | 1. Injunction granted | 2. Injunction denied | 3. Narrowed relief | 4. Settlement or agency delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your report-by date | Stays frozen for whoever the order covers | Letter deadlines can be enforced again after October 13 | Likely enforceable. USDA's own fallback would restrain funding transfers, not the moves | Whatever the agreement says. Nothing is filed |
| If you decline | No removal for declining while the injunction lasts | Removal process: written proposal, at least 30 days' notice, at least 7 days to answer | Same as scenario 2 for anyone outside the relief | Unknown |
| Severance | Not triggered. You are still employed | Payable if the move is outside your commuting area, no position description or mobility agreement required it, and you are not eligible for an immediate pension | Same as scenario 2 | Same as scenario 2 if separations go ahead |
| Early pension (discontinued service retirement) | Not triggered | FERS: age 50 with 20 years, or any age with 25, with at least five years of creditable civilian service, separation from a FERS-covered position under a qualifying involuntary-separation notice, and no declined reasonable offer. It replaces severance | Same as scenario 2 | Same as scenario 2 |
| Buyout (VSIP) | Only if offered. Capped at $25,000 | Only if offered. Capped at $25,000 | Same | Same |
| Relocation costs if you go | Payments for moves already made continue | Travel, household goods, home sale or purchase costs, a miscellaneous allowance and the tax allowance are mandatory | Same | Same |
| Health insurance | Unchanged | Regular FEHB if you retire on an immediate annuity and meet the annuitant continuation rules (generally five years of coverage, or coverage since your first chance to enroll). If you do not, up to 18 months of Temporary Continuation of Coverage at the full premium plus up to 2% | Same | Same |
| Appeal rights | Not needed | For most permanent employees, an MSPB appeal within 30 days of the effective date or of receiving the decision, whichever is later (30 more with a written ADR agreement) | Same | A settlement could keep or waive them |
Sources for each row are cited in the sections below. Scenarios 1 through 4 are FedTools' reading of the possible outcomes. The court has decided none of them.
What the October 2 Order Says
The operative sentence, from page 2 of the order: "From the time of this order through October 13, 2026, the deadlines in all 'management directed reassignment' ('MDR') letters" and other relocation notices issued under the reorganization plan are stayed.
The order also says USDA "shall not take any action to implement, carry out, effectuate, or enforce those deadlines," including a termination, separation or other disciplinary proceeding against an employee who declines, does not respond, or does not relocate.
Who is covered. The stay "applies only to the following USDA components":
- Food and Nutrition Administration
- Research, Education, and Economics mission area
- Forest Service
- Foreign Agricultural Service
- Rural Development
- Farm Production and Conservation
- Office of the General Counsel
- Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
If your component is not on that list, the stay does not cover you.
What is not covered. Reassignments of employees in the National Capital Region to other local offices are outside the stay. The October 2 order also added three carve-outs that the September 14 order did not have. USDA may process relocation payments for employees who already moved, close office locations that were already empty, and take certain personnel actions unrelated to the reorganization plan.
What happens next. A September 29 docket entry set the schedule:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| October 6, 5 PM | Plaintiffs' response brief due |
| October 7, 5 PM | Both sides' proposed injunction language due |
| October 13 | Last day of the stay |
A ruling or another extension around October 13 is the natural expectation, but the docket does not promise one. We read the docket through entry 100 on October 4. Check it again before you act on any date.
In a September 29 order, the judge wrote that the plaintiffs' reading of the key appropriations provision "is supported both by the text of that provision and by its legislative and statutory history." That tells you how the judge is leaning on one legal question. It does not decide the motion.
The Four Scenarios
1. Injunction granted. Deadlines stay frozen through trial for whoever the order names. The October 7 filings will propose that wording, so the covered group could be redrawn.
2. Injunction denied. After October 13, letter deadlines become enforceable again. The order does not say whether USDA would reset the dates or hold to the originals.
3. Narrowed relief. USDA's October 2 brief asks the court to deny the injunction. Its fallback is an order limited to reprogramming or transferring funds, which the brief calls "a step USDA has not even taken to date." An injunction that narrow would leave the relocations themselves in place.
4. Settlement or agency delay. Nothing on the docket points to one. It stays on the list because USDA controls its own deadlines.
What Declining Costs or Pays
The money rules below apply in any scenario where separations go forward.
Severance: usually payable, with one large exception
Under 5 CFR 550.703, when an employee is separated for declining a reassignment outside the commuting area, the separation is involuntary unless the position description or a written agreement already provided for such a move. Involuntary separation is what makes severance payable.
A hub reassignment in another metro area is also not a "reasonable offer" under that regulation, because a reasonable offer must be within the commuting area unless geographic mobility is a condition of employment. Turning it down does not by itself cost you severance.
The exception is in 5 CFR 550.704(b)(5). An employee who is eligible on separation for an immediate annuity cannot receive severance. Eligibility alone is enough, whether or not you apply for the pension.
The formula (5 U.S.C. 5595(c) and 5 CFR 550.707):
- One week of basic pay for each of the first 10 years of service
- Two weeks for each year beyond 10
- An age adjustment of 2.5% for each full three months you are over 40
- A lifetime cap of 52 weeks of pay
Basic pay for this purpose includes locality pay. A D.C. employee separated for declining is paid at the D.C. rate.
Discontinued service retirement: the pension that replaces severance
Under 5 U.S.C. 8414(b), a FERS employee separated involuntarily, other than for misconduct or delinquency, can retire immediately at age 50 with 20 years of service, or at any age with 25. OPM's CSRS and FERS Handbook, chapter 44, adds conditions: at least five years of creditable civilian service, separation from a FERS-covered position under a qualifying involuntary-separation notice, and no declined reasonable offer. Declining a move outside the commuting area generally qualifies unless the position carries a mobility agreement. The FERS pension is 1% of high-3 average pay for each year of service, with no reduction for age. If the annuity includes a qualifying CSRS component, that part follows CSRS rules, including the reduction before age 55. The FERS annuity supplement does not begin until the employee reaches minimum retirement age.
This pension is lost only if you decline a reasonable offer, and a hub move outside your commuting area is not one unless geographic mobility is a condition of your job.
Severance versus pension by age and service
| Age and service | Weeks of pay | GS-12 step 5, D.C. ($116,071) | GS-13 step 5, D.C. ($138,024) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45, 10 years | 15 | $33,370 | $39,681 |
| 45, 15 years | 30 | $66,739 | $79,362 |
| 45, 20 years | 45 | $100,109 | $119,043 |
| 52, 10 years | 22 | $48,942 | $58,199 |
| 52, 15 years | 44 | $97,885 | $116,398 |
| 52, 20 years (assuming all DSR eligibility requirements are met) | Severance barred | $0 severance. Pension up to $23,214 a year | $0 severance. Pension up to $27,605 a year |
FedTools 2026 analysis for FERS employees, using OPM Salary Table 2026-DCB and the 5 U.S.C. 5595(c) formula. Weekly pay is the annual rate divided by 52.175, carried unrounded, with the result rounded to the dollar. Assumes 12 months of continuous service, no earlier severance, and whole-year ages and service. The pension figures are 1% × 20 years × the 2026 annual rate, an upper bound, because a real high-3 averages three years of pay and will be lower.
Five more years of service can erase severance. At 52 with 15 years, the GS-12 gets about $97,885. At 52 with 20 years, the same employee, if all the discontinued service retirement requirements are met, qualifies for an immediate pension and gets no severance.
Every severance figure beats the VSIP ceiling. A buyout is capped at $25,000 under 5 U.S.C. 3523. The smallest cell above is $33,370.
Where you are separated matters. Severance uses your locality rate at separation. An employee who moves to a hub and is separated later is paid at the hub's rate.
If you go: what relocation pays
For a transfer within the continental United States, the Federal Travel Regulation (41 CFR 302-3.101) makes these mandatory: travel and per diem for you and your immediate family, shipment and temporary storage of household goods, costs of selling or buying a home or ending a lease, a miscellaneous expense allowance, and the relocation income tax allowance. House-hunting trips and temporary quarters are at the agency's discretion. Our federal relocation and moving guide covers the details.
If you are removed: notice, appeal, insurance, unemployment
- Notice. A removal for declining is an adverse action under 5 CFR part 752. You are entitled to at least 30 days' advance written notice and at least 7 days to answer.
- Appeal. Most permanent employees can appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The deadline under 5 CFR 1201.22 is 30 days after the removal takes effect, or 30 days after you receive the decision, whichever is later. A written agreement with the agency to try alternative dispute resolution, made before that deadline, adds 30 days.
- Health insurance. An employee who retires on an immediate annuity, including a discontinued service retirement, can keep regular FEHB at the usual enrollee share under 5 U.S.C. 8905(b). That generally takes five years of coverage, or coverage since the first chance to enroll if that is shorter, and OPM can waive the rule. Separated employees who do not qualify can keep FEHB for up to 18 months through Temporary Continuation of Coverage, paying both the employee and government shares plus up to 2%.
- Unemployment. Your state agency decides eligibility under its own law.
Estimate Your Own Numbers
The free Severance Pay Calculator takes your salary, years of service and age and returns your severance under the statutory formula. If you meet the discontinued service retirement requirements explained above, estimate the FERS part of a discontinued service pension by hand before you answer a letter: 1% of your high-3 average pay times your years of FERS service. A CSRS component, if you have one, is computed separately.
For the wider picture of agency moves, see our agency headquarters relocation tracker.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the USDA relocation stay still in effect?
Yes. On October 2, 2026, Judge Chhabria signed an order (ECF No. 99) extending the stay through October 13, 2026, for eight named USDA components. During that time USDA cannot separate, discipline or mark AWOL a covered employee for declining or not relocating. Moves between offices inside the National Capital Region are not covered.
Which USDA employees does the stay cover?
Employees in the Food and Nutrition Administration; the Research, Education, and Economics mission area; the Forest Service; the Foreign Agricultural Service; Rural Development; Farm Production and Conservation; the Office of the General Counsel; and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. Other components, including FSIS and APHIS, are not listed in the order.
When will the judge rule on the USDA relocation injunction?
No ruling date is set. Plaintiffs file by October 6 at 5 PM, both sides submit proposed injunction language by October 7 at 5 PM, and the stay runs through October 13, 2026. The docket does not promise a decision by then.
If I decline the move and I am separated, do I get severance?
Usually yes. Declining a reassignment outside your commuting area is an involuntary separation under 5 CFR 550.703, unless your position description or a written agreement already required such a move. The exception is that an employee eligible for an immediate annuity, including discontinued service retirement, cannot receive severance.
How is federal severance pay calculated?
One week of basic pay for each of the first 10 years of service and two weeks for each year after that. Then add 2.5% for each full three months you are over age 40. The lifetime cap is 52 weeks of pay. Basic pay includes your locality payment at separation.
Can I retire early if I decline a USDA relocation?
Under FERS, you can be. The age and service thresholds are 50 with 20 years, or any age with 25 years. They qualify you only if you have at least five years of creditable civilian service, you are separated from a FERS-covered position under a qualifying involuntary-separation notice, and you did not decline a reasonable offer. Declining a move outside your commuting area generally counts as involuntary unless your position carries a mobility agreement. The FERS part of a discontinued service retirement pays 1% of your high-3 average pay for each year of service with no age reduction. If your annuity includes a qualifying CSRS component, that part follows CSRS rules, including the reduction before age 55. The FERS annuity supplement does not start until your minimum retirement age.
Does declining a hub reassignment count as declining a reasonable offer?
No. Under 5 CFR 550.703, a reasonable offer must be within your commuting area unless geographic mobility is a condition of your employment. A reassignment to a hub in another metro area does not meet that test.
Can I appeal a removal for declining a relocation?
Yes, for most permanent employees. The removal is an adverse action that can be appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The deadline is 30 days after the removal takes effect, or 30 days after you receive the decision, whichever is later. A written agreement with the agency to try alternative dispute resolution, made before that deadline, adds 30 days. Before removal you must get at least 30 days' written notice and at least 7 days to answer.
Related Resources
- Severance Pay Calculator: Severance from your salary, service and age.
- Agency HQ Relocation Tracker: Status of every announced agency move.
- USDA Relocation Exodus: How many employees accepted or declined.
- Federal Workforce Lawsuits Tracker: Where the major cases stand.
Sources: Order extending administrative stay, ECF No. 99 and USDA supplemental brief, ECF No. 100, AFGE v. USDA, No. 3
(N.D. Cal.), October 2, 2026; administrative stay order of September 14, 2026, ECF No. 56; case docket, entries 91 and 93; 5 CFR 550.703, 550.704 and 550.707; 5 U.S.C. 5595, 3523, 8414, 8415 and 8421; 5 CFR 752.401, 752.404 and 752.405; 5 CFR 1201.22; 5 CFR 890.1103 and 890.1107; 5 U.S.C. 8905a; 20 CFR 609.6; 41 CFR 302-3.101; OPM Salary Table 2026-DCB.