A federal pest-control agency that suffered budget and staff cuts under Trump is now stuck with a bed bug infestation, according to reports.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which protects agriculture from pests, is dealing with a bed bug takeover at the Agriculture Department building, according to reporting by NOTUS.
One USDA employee told NOTUS that the irony of the situation "was lost on no one." Headquarters News noted on X that DOGE slashed the APHIS budget and fired its employees.
The George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland, which houses a few USDA agencies, reportedly told employees about the bed bug problems in May, five employees told NOTUS, which also looked at a town hall meeting transcript.
Employees were allowed to work remotely while the building was fumigated, but they returned to noxious fumes that made them sick, according to NOTUS. The USDA sent them home again, which NOTUS noted was "a rare exception" to the Trump administration's push to stop remote work and "require all federal workers to report to the normal workplace."
Bed bugs were still crawling through the USDA building as of Friday, but the department hasn't authorized a return to remote work, according to employees who spoke to NOTUS.