Trump's insect defense agency has a bed bug infestation

The Animal and Plant Inspection Service — a wing of the Agriculture Department tasked with combating the spread of invasive pests — has a bed bug problem. Not only that, but it’s been a persistent issue that has clashed with the Trump administration’s anti-remote work policy, has made some agency staff sick, and may hinder the country’s preparedness against more dangerous outbreaks. According to one USDA employee who spoke with NOTUS, the irony that the agency in charge of fighting such infestations would get one itself “was lost on no one.”

The issue arose at the agency’s George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland, in mid-May. According to NOTUS, “The department opted to send employees home and allow them to telework for a few days to fumigate the building. When employees returned, however, they complained of noxious fumes and resulting sickness, and USDA once again authorized them to work remotely. The telework approval was a rare exception to the Trump administration’s push to require all federal workers to report to their normal workplaces five days per week.”

On Friday, however, alarm was raised when the bugs were found yet again. “This time around, three employees said, the department has not authorized any additional telework. Instead, department leadership told employees to take personal vacation time if they did not want to report to the office.”

During a recent town hall meeting on the matter, acting APHIS administrator Kelly Moore and acting chief operating officer Carson Hawley asserted that the issue would be addressed promptly, but employees say they are not optimistic about the progress they’ve seen, with some asserting that “they felt disgusted by the conditions and, in some cases, became so paranoid that they were constantly itchy. The back-and-forth nature has also left staff distraught as they await the next turn of events.”

“They treated the building, and then they sent people home again because of offgassing,” said one employee, who like all those who spoke with NOTUS did so on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. “Then they came back. Now there’s more bedbugs.” Another says that staff had “returned to an office that was making them sick because the chemicals hadn’t aired out,” lamenting that employees were required to take personal leave if they did not want to work in a building still infested with bed bugs, “noting many of them rely on public transportation and had not received instruction on preventing the spread of the insects in that setting.”

In an email to staff on Friday, Hawley argued that employees were responsible for the renewed outbreak, instructing them to place all personal items in garbage bags and remove them from the building. A spokesperson from the agency did not explain why employees were not given the opportunity to work remotely.

For their part, “Employees said they were hesitant to bring their belongings out of the office and further risk introducing bed bugs into their own homes. They have also discussed among themselves the possibility of filing a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but fear retribution for doing so.”

What’s more, this is no mere inconvenience. Currently, APHIS is grappling with crises like bird flu and New World screwworm, and “some staffers raised concerns about the impacts the hazardous working conditions and the push for staff to take time off would have on that critical work.”

“Not allowing employees to telework while the office is infested with bed bugs is an unnecessary significant risk to U.S. cattle health,” argued one employee, “with experts dealing with the NWS situation forced to go home if they don’t want to get bed bugs.”