In testimony on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed that the USDA is now hoping to fill key positions in exchange for their resignation after agreeing to pay salaries and benefits for more than 15,000 employees in September.

“We are actively looking and hiring to fill those positions that are integral to efforts and major frontlines,” Rollins told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.

The USDA is one of two agencies that invites employees to resign through a postponement program — in late January, when the deal is submitted to almost the entire federal workforce and again provides a short window in April. The Trump administration tends to significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce in terms of delaying its resignation plan.

But the need to fill the post shortly after people are left is raised, which has raised questions, including Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“So you let people go, are you looking for new people to fill the positions they’ve been through?” Murray asked.

“We are now having these discussions,” Rollins replied, noting that 15,000 employees make up less than 15% of the USDA’s workforce, while the department loses between 8,000 and 10,000 employees per year through the churn.

Despite this, Rollins invited some people who deferred resignation proposals to return.

“If they want to come back, if they are in a key position, then we’d be happy to have a conversation,” she told the lawmakers.

NPR earlier reported that on the second day of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Checking Services Staff (APHIS), leaving the job through the postponement resignation program, HR sent an email to the remaining employees, providing them with an opportunity to apply for 73 public positions, including new vacancies.

An employee who accepted the deferred resignation agreement was angry and learned that his job was on this list. They don't want to quit, but are forced to do so after repeatedly warning the front to lay off employees. The employee asked to remain anonymous while still under paid administrative leave due to fears of retaliation from talking to the media.

During Tuesday's hearing, Rollins admitted that he might have made some mistakes in the process, but insisted that people who had not accepted key positions in the second round of the postponement plan.

“We are very intentional to get closer to that,” she said. “We are working hard to solve a lot of things every day and I think we have made a lot of progress.” ”

Rollins went further on Wednesday, and anyone who denied Aphis was allowed to accept a deferred resignation or DRP in April.

"In the final round, we do not accept DRP from anyone with the (farm service agency) office or Affith office or state veterinarians," Rollins said during a budget hearing on the House Appropriations Committee.

Her claim is inconsistent with another account of the Aphis employee whose separation agreement is NPR. NPR agreed not to name the employee because he was also worried about talking to the media during paid administrative leave.

He described seeing people stressing IT employees leaving the government last Wednesday delivered a bunch of laptops and cell phones. He added his heap to the heap.

Armando Rosario-Lebron, vice president of the National Association of Agricultural Employees, represents Aphis's plant protection and isolation program, and he believes that hundreds of members of the bargaining unit can have In April, he accepted a proposal for a deferred resignation.

The USDA did not immediately answer NPR's questions about the differences between Rollins' testimony and these employee accounts.