1. United States
2. Nev.
3. Letter

You voted for the FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations Act. Section 716 requires the Secretary of Agriculture to notify and receive approval from the appropriations committees 30 days before relocating an office, reorganizing programs, or standing up any new entity of five or more people. It includes a standstill clause barring any implementation or public announcement during that period. On March 31, USDA announced it was closing all nine Forest Service regional offices, moving headquarters to Salt Lake City, creating 15 new state director offices, and shuttering 57 of 77 research facilities. The standstill was blown at the press release. Approval was never sought. USDA’s General Counsel responded with an internal memo declaring Section 716 unconstitutional. Chief Schultz told House Appropriations the agency will proceed with or without congressional approval. Nevada bears this directly. The Humboldt-Toiyabe is the largest national forest in the lower 48 and covers most of NV-02, with ranger district offices in Carson City, Ely, Elko, Las Vegas, Sparks, Tonopah, Wells, and Winnemucca. Fire season starts in roughly eight weeks. Dismantling the Intermountain regional office and standing up 15 untested state directors in the middle of it is an operational risk Nevada bears. If a major fire runs on the Humboldt-Toiyabe this summer and coordination has degraded, the first calls come to your office. Three asks: 1. Block further Forest Service reorganization spending in the next supplemental until Section 716 is honored. You sit on Appropriations. Use the leverage. 2. Call a hearing on the General Counsel memo. 3. Get on the record before fire season. You are retiring. You have room most colleagues do not.