On Jul. 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it has fired 70 foreign contract researchers after a national security review intended to secure the U.S. food supply from adversaries including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

The contractors had worked at the Agricultural Research Service, the in-house research arm of the USDA, said Thomas Henderson, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1657, which represents ARS workers in Albany, California. Most of those dismissed were Chinese post-doctoral researchers on two-year contracts with the agency, and who were already subject to vetting before being hired, Henderson said. Some arrived to work on July 9 to find their badges no longer worked, he said.

Because of a federal hiring freeze that has been extended through October 15, the USDA will not be able to replace the fired staff and will need to halt ongoing scientific work that benefits farmers, like a project to develop a vaccine for a deadly toxin that occurs in undercooked beef, Henderson said.

“We don’t have the talent now to progress on these research projects. It’s setting us back by years, if not decades,” he said. The USDA did not comment on the concern about lost research capacity.

The ARS conducts research on agriculture topics like pests, food safety and climate change that are high-priority to American farmers. The agency has lost about 1,200 employees, more than 17% of its 2024 staffing level, to terminations and voluntary incentives to quit offered by President Donald Trump’s administration.