President Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden, Administrator of the General Services Administration Ed Forst, and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) announced today at an outdoor on-site press conference that the Department of Agriculture is selling its South Building in Washington, D.C. (The seven-story building sits at the corner of 14th Street and Independence Avenue.)
Ernst, who targeted the South Building in legislation in June, brought along the ‘For Sale’ sign she used to promote the 2025 Federal Office Realignment and Sale of Assets for Leveraging Efficiency (FOR SALE) Act, which proposed getting six underused DC-area properties off the balance sheet and “downsize Washington’s bloated real estate portfolio.”
The GSA announcement release said officially that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced the planned disposition of the Agriculture South (Ag South) building in Washington, DC. The Ag South disposition will deliver significant value to taxpayers while advancing the Trump Administration’s objectives to reinvigorate, consolidate, and better utilize the federal real estate portfolio.”
Note: According to data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, since President Trump’s return to the White House and the installation of DOGE last January, more than 24,000 people have left the agency.
Critics of the federal downsizing efforts like Nick Levedofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, say the winnowing of USDA staff hurts farmers. Levedofsky told Harvest Public Media that the leaner operation “means farmers are waiting longer for help applying for financial assistance or special project funds.”
At the USDA press conference Wednesday (see below), Rollins said that the South Building — which runs an entire city block — was at one time “the beating heart of USDA, alive with research and teeming with activity, decades ago. But today it is a former shell of what it once was and yet another reason for Americans to wonder just exactly who their government is serving.”
Happening now: @SecRollins, @DepSecVaden, @USGSA_Ed, and @SenJoniErnst give an announcement regarding USDA facilities. https://t.co/EUaroJwoYQ
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) February 25, 2026
Rollins added that you if you were to walk into the building today you would find “empty office after empty office after empty office.” The Secretary said that, on average, 70 percent of the seats in the office are empty and that taxpayers pay for those empty offices.
Deputy Secretary Vaden said the agency will redistribute its current D.C. employees across the country to work in USDA “hubs” and that the plan will allow the children of USDA employees to finish the school year in the D.C. area before they are relocated to a new hub station.
To mark the event, Ernst shared on social media the promotional photo that accompanied her legislative push in June, featuring her smiling and standing outside of the building with her ‘For Sale’ sign, signed by the Owner, ‘Uncle Sam.’
At the press conference, Ernst said, “We’ve got many many more of these federal government unused buildings yet to go.” To accomplish her goal, Ernst will need to hurry. The Iowa Senator announced in September that she would not seek reelection to a third term in 2026.
https://t.co/NEJr8X8dJG pic.twitter.com/w7e0L2h0ja
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) February 25, 2026