Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight
Darwin Hertzel reported to his job with the Natural Resources Conservation Service on Feb. 14 and opened an email.
“Some very generic, no-name email. It was a template,” he said. “It said you’re a probationary employee, pack up your stuff and leave.”
The service is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hertzel, who worked in Rapid City, conducted cultural resource reviews to ensure the service’s projects disturbed nothing of historic or cultural significance in the nine counties he oversaw.
He said neither his boss nor his boss’ boss knew the firing was coming.
Hertzel was one of thousands of federal employees nationwide who were fired recently as part of federal workforce reductions carried out by President Donald Trump and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, run by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.
The action has reportedly resulted in nearly 10,000 firings nationally and 75,000 voluntary buyouts across federal agencies including the Department of Education, General Services Administration, Office of Personnel Management, the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, Veterans Affairs, National Nuclear Security Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and others.
Mass firings mostly targeted probationary employees, who comprise roughly 220,000 of the 2.4 million-person federal workforce. Probationary workers are either newly hired, or have worked in the federal government for decades and started a new role that subjects them to a probationary status of one to two years.
The extent of the firings in South Dakota, as well as the South Dakota impact of federal funding freezes ordered by Trump, is difficult to ascertain. The White House did not respond to a request from South Dakota Searchlight’s parent organization, States Newsroom, for comment about exactly how many federal workers were fired or where they were located.
‘Cruelty was the point’
Liz Renner, who was a fish biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is another fired federal worker in South Dakota. When she was fired on the morning of Feb. 14, she was given until 3 p.m. to turn in her laptop, ID and office keys. She raced to send final messages and download paperwork before she was locked out of her email.
Renner said she was the only person fired from her office in Yankton, but she heard that 45 Fish and Wildlife Service employees were fired from the regional office that includes South Dakota.
“It really does feel like the cruelty was the point with some of these layoffs,” Renner said. “Many of us that were laid off received glowing performance reviews. So this narrative and some of these condescending emails coming out that are claiming that we didn’t meet performance expectations is patently false.”
Nikki Gronli, formerly the South Dakota state director of USDA Rural Development under the Biden administration, said she knows of 65 USDA layoffs in South Dakota, mostly employees who have been working less than a year. She said the firings are shortsighted, and she warned of the long-term consequences.
“A third of USDA employees nationwide are about to retire in the next three years,” she said. “These new hires were brought in to learn, to keep the department running in the future.”
Funding freeze impact
Trump has also issued orders freezing grants and loans, halting foreign aid, and ending diversity and inclusion programs and environmental initiatives since he took office last month. Many of the actions are being resisted in court; meanwhile, the effects are being felt across the country.
Doug Sombke is president of the South Dakota Farmers Union. He said the firings and funding freezes are disrupting some conservation and rural development efforts.
“These layoffs hit people who help farmers secure loans, grants and conservation funding,” Sombke said. “These programs were already understaffed.”
Sombke said delays are occurring in a rural energy efficiency initiative called the Rural Energy for America Program. It helps farmers upgrade to equipment with better energy efficiency.
“We already had farmers waiting months to get their grant money,” he said. “Now some of them are being told they might never get it.”
Taneeza Islam is the CEO of South Dakota Voices for Peace, a nonprofit funded in part with dollars that the nonprofit Acacia Center for Justice receives from the federal government to support immigrants and refugees. She said the federal government cut off the organization’s funding this week, only to restore it later in the week.
The funding helps the organizations provide legal services to unaccompanied minors who have crossed the border seeking asylum.
“This has been such an emotional roller coaster,” Islam said.
Congressional delegation unresponsive
South Dakota’s two U.S. senators and one U.S. representative have not responded to South Dakota Searchlight’s requests for interviews about the freezes and firings.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, and several other members of Congress recently sent a letter to new U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requesting quick action to increase logging in the Black Hills National Forest, in support of timber companies who say they’re in danger of closing.
The letter did not acknowledge the 3,400 Forest Service employees who were reportedly fired nationwide in the Trump-Musk purge, or address how that would impact the service’s ability to carry out timber sales.
The Black Hills National Forest did not respond with answers to South Dakota Searchlight questions about the number of its employees fired.
The fallout from the firings and funding freezes has included a public outcry, such as a Wednesday protest in South Dakota. Over 50 residents gathered outside the Sioux Falls office of U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, holding signs and chanting.
“This is a constitutional crisis!” one protester shouted, referencing the conflict between Congress’ power over the purse and Trump’s assertion of power over federal funding.
Among the protesters was retiree Joan McMillan. She said her daughter worked for Veterans Affairs and took a buyout to avoid a firing.
“They are taking a sledgehammer to everything,” McMillan said.
The outcry has reached some state lawmakers. During a press conference Thursday, state Sen. Liz Larson, D-Sioux Falls, said she is getting calls from concerned constituents.
“We’ve also heard that there are gag orders on certain employees to talk about this issue,” she said.
Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden was asked about the cuts during his Wednesday press conference. He said the state does not know how many federal employees were fired in South Dakota, but he said there are many employers in the state who need workers.
“There are a lot of opportunities in South Dakota for these federal employees that are laid off,” Rhoden said.