This article was originally published at 9:12 a.m. CDT on Monday, May 5. It was last updated with additional information at 1:26 p.m. CDT. on Monday, May 5.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins will have a lot to discuss on Capitol Hill this week with the Trump administration shedding nearly 15,200 positions at USDA and a budget proposal detailing more than $4.6 billion in discretionary cuts at the department as well.

Rollins will testify both Tuesday and Wednesday before Senate and House appropriators -- her first congressional hearing since being confirmed at the end of February. The hearings will provide Rollins the opportunity to highlight how her staff plans to reorganize USDA while making dramatic cuts to staff and funding across several agencies.

Late last week, President Donald Trump released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026 that highlights plans to cut USDA's discretionary budget by more than $4.6 billion. Fiscal 2025 budget levels are not posted on USDA's website. Looking at 2024 budget spending, the $4.6 billion would be about a 13% cut.

The budget cuts don't affect mandatory spending such as commodity programs, most conservation programs, crop insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but discretionary funding is critical in areas such as research and Rural Development.

The proposed cuts come after USDA last week detailed to lawmakers that 15,182 employees across the department agreed to leave federal service under two separate "Deferred Resignation Program" offers. In a document shared with DTN, a summary of a call between USDA staff and lawmakers on Friday provided a breakdown of the job cuts.

Seth Christensen, USDA's communications director, confirmed the cuts in an email to Politico, suggesting the Biden administration didn't have a way to pay for employees.

"President Biden and Secretary Vilsack left USDA in complete disarray, including hiring thousands of employees with no sustainable way to pay them," Christensen stated. "Secretary Rollins is working to reorient the department to be more effective and efficient at serving the American people, including by prioritizing farmers, ranchers, and producers. She will not compromise the critical work of the Department."

In a breakdown, the job losses include:

-- 4,044 employees from the U.S. Forest Service

-- 2,408 employees from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

-- 1,538 employees in Rural Development (RD)

-- 1,377 employees from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

-- 1,255 employees from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

-- 674 Farm Service Agency (FSA) county staff

-- 449 other FSA employees

-- 555 employees from the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)

-- 498 employees in Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services

-- 243 employees at the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

-- 105 employees in the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)

For some agencies, the cuts run deeper. For instance, the 243 employees at NASS who took the buyout offer, that's nearly 30% of the agency's staff. The 1,538 employees leaving Rural Development also make up nearly 30% of the agency staff.

Yet, the job cuts also left agencies trying to plug holes. NPR reported over the weekend that APHIS let people leave, then leadership immediately sent out an email offering employees a chance to shift over to 73 positions "that are especially critical to fill as soon as possible."

Highlighting the proposed budget cuts at USDA, Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, said the president's budget proposal "is out of touch and ignores the needs of America's farmers, ranchers, foresters and rural communities."

Craig added, "At a time when farmers are reeling from trade wars, funding freezes and mass layoffs at USDA, gutting technical assistance at the Farm Service Agency will make it impossible for farmers to access the resources they need to do their jobs. The president's budget also poses real danger to our communities by slashing funding for programs that assist local and state partners with wildfire prevention. A budget is a values document, and this budget does not value farm country."

Craig noted the USDA budget proposal would slash conservation technical services, which would limit the ability of farmers to sign up for USDA conservation programs. Technical services is also an option for farmers who might not qualify for other NRCS programs.

Under the plan, NRCS would take a $754 million cut, though the budget proposal states there would still be more than $1 billion for technical services. In FY 2024, discretionary funding for conservation technical assistance was $904 million.

Rural Development (RD) under the budget would face a $721 million cut. Community facility grants would be eliminated, "as Congress has eroded these grants by earmarking nearly 100% of them," the budget document states. Also, USDA would have no new funding for rural broadband, which has been a priority since the pandemic. The White House states no new broadband funding is needed because other federal resources would meet those needs.

The White House proposal in RD also would eliminate rural business program and single-family housing direct loans.

Sticking with efforts to reduce foreign aid, the budget proposal also eliminates the Food for Peace program, which buys about $2 billion in commodities for international food aid. The McGovern-Dole Food for Education program, which helps with school meals in low-income countries also would be eliminated under the budget.

The Trump administration proposal also would "defund" the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides monthly boxes of food to 700,000 seniors.

While Congress has maintained U.S. agriculture is falling behind in agricultural research funding, the budget plan from the White House also would cut $602 million from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), or about one-third of its budget based on FY 2024 numbers. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) would face a $159 million cut with USDA planning to close facilities that the budget states are in disrepair and "reduces funding for research projects that are not the highest national priority."

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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