Congressman defends ‘needed’ disruptions from Trump cuts but says methods could be better

by Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight

(Brandon, SD) — South Dakota’s lone congressman defended some of the Trump administration’s mass firings and funding freezes as needed “disruptions” while acknowledging “there are methods that can be improved.”

South Dakota Searchlight interviewed U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, on Feb. 28 when he visited the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce.

Johnson did not know how many federal employees in the state had been fired, or how much federal funding had been frozen or eliminated in the state.

“Certainly, we would like the information on employees impacted,” Johnson said, “and so I’m looking forward to getting that information as soon as I can.”

He added that funding freezes at the beginning of an administration are not unusual, and that “Joe Biden never gave me any of those dollars about how much had been frozen.”

“Now, I do have the sense that was smaller in size and scope than maybe the funding freezes we’re dealing with now, but it’s not the kind of thing the last administration provided either,” Johnson said.

The Trump administration, acting through its Department of Government Efficiency led by the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, has fired more than 30,000 federal employees, according to some reports. The administration has also frozen or attempted to freeze or eliminate trillions of dollars’ worth of grants, loans and foreign aid, sparking litigation from some states and affected organizations.

‘Waste, fraud and abuse’ in SD?

Searchlight asked Johnson if he approves of the Trump administration’s approach.

“I mean, clearly, there have been some disruptions,” Johnson said. “Now, a lot of these disruptions have been needed for a long time. Clearly this is not exactly how I would have done it. I mean, there are methods that can be improved. And we’ve been talking with the administration about how they can make things more effective in the weeks to come.”

Regarding the need for the disruptions, Johnson said it was self-apparent.

“Can’t everybody agree that when you’re releasing millions and billions of dollars, there would be waste, fraud and abuse?” he said. “And that we should look for it?”

Searchlight asked Johnson if he could name a specific example of federal “waste, fraud and abuse” found in South Dakota.

“I would tell you I am aware of funding that I just can’t understand how that could be beneficial,” Johnson said. “Millions of dollars was provided to, I think, some protest organizations in the state that I have not seen any real track record of deliverables from those grants.”

He added later, “I don’t want to attack a particular organization.”

At the chamber of commerce event, Johnson took questions from attendees. Some expressed concerns about the mass firings. Johnson described them as harsh but necessary course corrections for the country.

“These are very standard HR disruptions in the private sector,” he told attendees. “I get it, they are far less common in the public sector.”

Senators react

The offices of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. Mike Rounds, both Republicans from South Dakota, did not respond to similar questions sent via email to their spokespeople.

Thune recently told CNN that while “the objectives” of DOGE are “right,” he would go about achieving the objectives differently.

“DOGE is going about this and doing the big scrub,” Thune said. “But now that you’ve got — this is why we worked so hard to get Cabinet people in place — is hand it off to these leaders, these managers, who are going to be making decisions. And I think they’re probably better attuned to the individual programs.”

Sen. Mike Rounds recently joined News Nation and said Republicans will do whatever they can to help the president reduce the size of the federal government.

“They’re doing it so rapidly that they are making some mistakes,” Rounds said. “Where we find them, we’re going to do our best to repair them.”