Blood-sucking bedbugs are reportedly, well, bugging the building of a federal pest-control agency that lost more than 2,100 employees — roughly a quarter of its entire workforce — during Donald Trump’s first months back in office as his administration sought to slash public spending.
Staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have twice in recent weeks been forced to work from home because of a bedbug infestation at the agency’s offices in the George Washington Carver Center complex in Beltsville, Maryland, according to NOTUS, which cited multiple employees as sources.
On its website, the APHIS describes its mission as protecting “the health of U.S. agriculture and natural resources against invasive pests and diseases.”
According to the NOTUS report, employees were initially sent home when their building was fumigated. Workers returned and reported becoming ill from the fumes used for the fumigation, the report said.
Staffers worked remotely again but last week were told, even though bedbugs had again been spotted in the building, to return to the office and use paid time off if they refused.
USDA and APHIS officials reportedly attributed the continued infestation to employee behavior, citing “insufficient compliance regarding personal items.”
But staffers disputed that characterization and told NOTUS they were concerned about bringing bedbugs into their own homes and belongings.
