DOGE having an impact in South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been cutting federal offices throughout the state but finding out more information and reaction has been difficult.

KELOLAND News attempted to contact various federal offices on the DOGE cut list as well as organizations and agencies that work with these offices on Wednesday and Thursday but was not successful as of 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

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A spokesman for U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins did send a statement in response from a KELOLAND News request for more information about the lease for a USDA agency in Watertown.

“Secretary (Brooke) Rollins fully supports President Trump’s directive to eliminate wasteful spending and ensure taxpayer dollars are used effectively. USDA is optimizing building capacity and consolidating underutilized offices to reduce inefficiencies while continuing to prioritize frontline services for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” the statement from a Rollins’ spokesman said.

The list of real estate closures in South Dakota has grown to 13, including four Sioux Falls offices (Small Business Administration, Office of Secretary in the Department of the Interior, Department of Labor and “Departmental Management”).

The Farm Service Agency building in Watertown. The U.S. Small Business Administration office in Sioux Falls.

DOGE is also impacting grants received by entities in South Dakota.

A USDA grant has been frozen for the Brandon farm and egg producer Fruit of the Coop, the business said in a Facebook post.

In an interview with Kelli Volk of KELOLAND News, a Sioux Falls Thrive representative said funding for the non-profit’s Mobile Market is frozen and the future of the mobile market is uncertain. The representative could not 100% attribute the cut to DOGE cuts. The grant was under the USDA, which has been getting cut by DOGE.

South Dakota Voices for Peace had received a stop work order from the U.S. Department of Interior on a federal grant it uses to represent unattended children in immigration court. On Feb. 21, it received word the funding had been restored, a representative said in a KELOLAND News story.

KELOLAND News has had three news stories about federal workers with South Dakota ties getting cut from their jobs.

More than 20 lawsuits nationwide involve the name Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) created by President Donald Trump and apparently led by Elon Musk.

One of the lawsuits includes attorneys general from at least 12 states. South Dakota is not included in those states, although DOGE cuts are impacting the state.

Most lawsuits cited alleged unlawful and unconstitutional actions by Trump and DOGE. One of the one of the latest lawsuits was filed by the National Security Counselors, a public interest law group. This lawsuit seeks to pinpoint that Musk is the leader of DOGE, something the Trump Administration has not formally declared, but he did mention in Tuesday’s address.

There has been one ruling and related extension in a DOGE-related case. On Feb. 21, A federal judge “extended an earlier decision barring employees with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing a sensitive federal payment system at the Treasury Department,” according to the Hill.

Musk met with a group of Republican U.S. Senators on Wednesday. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, of South Dakota, posted about the meeting on X.

“Senate Republicans had an excellent lunch with @elonmusk today. We are committed to working together to fight bureaucracy and make government efficient,” Rounds said.

“We’re getting feedback, and we want to respond to our constituents — and how do we work most effectively to do that?” Republican U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, of North Dakota, said in a story about the lunch meeting reported by the New York Times.