DOGEd

I suppose there's something to the recognition that collapsing the government entirely might not have been the best plan.

In testimony on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins confirmed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is now looking to fill critical positions, after agreeing to pay more than 15,000 employees' salaries and benefits through September in exchange for their resignations.

"We are actively looking and recruiting to fill those positions that are integral to the efforts and the key frontlines," Rollins told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.

...

"So you let people go and you're looking for new people to fill the positions that they had experience in?" Murray asked.

"We're having those discussions right now," Rollins responded, while noting that 15,000 employees represents less than 15% of USDA's workforce and that the department loses 8,000 to 10,000 employees every year through attrition.

Still, Rollins invited some of those who took the deferred resignation offer to return.

"If they want to come back, and if they were in a key position, then we would love to have that conversation," she told lawmakers.