CASPER — Dick Cheney has been on President Donald Trump’s political hit list for some time, and now a federal building named for the former vice president may be on a Department of Governmental Efficiency hit list to be sold amid a federal downsizing frenzy.
The federal building that houses prosecutors, U.S. Postal Service operations and other workers was the only Wyoming building on a U.S. General Services Administration list of federal buildings to liquidate, as originally reported by Oil City News. But the agency quickly pulled that announcement from the webpage, leaving a wake of uncertainty.
Whether the building made the list because of Trump’s public and contentious feud with the former vice president and his daughter, former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, is just speculation, local Casper officials told Cowboy State Daily.
Natrona County Commission Chairman Dave North said he had just learned Wednesday morning about the building being on a closure list.
When asked if he thought the closure of the building had anything to do with bad blood between the Cheneys and Trump, North paused.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with it,” he said, then he laughed.
He also expressed concern for those who work in the building.
“I don’t know how many jobs it’s going to affect or what they are planning on doing with it or anything else,” North said.
That concern was echoed by Casper City Administrator Carter Napier, who said he knew nothing about the potential closure before a call from Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.
“My concern would be two-fold. I don’t want a decaying building in our downtown,” Napier said. “Secondly, I would hate to see all those Casper citizens lose jobs, or they may be county citizens. But nevertheless, local citizens I hate to see lose jobs.”
Napier declined to speculate if any closure of the building would be politically motivated by the spats between Trump and the Cheneys.
The Dick Cheney Federal Building has been put on a list of “non-core” properties for the General Services Administration to dispose of according to a website post. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
A plaque on the first floor shows the building was dedicated in 1970. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
An interior first-floor hallway in the building was vacant and quiet on Wednesday morning. The building hosts at least 15 different federal agencies and offices. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily)
About The Building
The 55-year-old, 116,799-square-foot, four-story structure at 100 E. B St. provides space for 151 federal employees from more than 20 federal agencies. It was built in 1970 and renamed the Dick Cheney Federal Building and dedicated June 1, 1999, to honor Cheney, who graduated from Natrona County High School in Casper.
“I have great respect and admiration for what it represents,” Cheney was quoted in the Jun. 2, 1999, edition of the Casper Star-Tribune. “Obviously, it’s a considerable honor for me to have my name on it.”
It also houses a U.S. Postal Service drop-off and local offices for all three members of Wyoming’s congressional delegation, U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, and Rep. Harriet Hageman.
The state’s top federal prosecutor, acting U.S. Attorney for Wyoming Stephanie Sprecher, is headquartered there along with eight of her employees — not far from a federal courthouse on Wolcott Street.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Wyoming, which prosecutes crimes originating in federal jurisdictions like the Wind River Indian Reservation and Yellowstone, didn’t get opinionated about the possible sale of its Casper office, but said it is seeking clarification.
“We’re trying to find out timeline, or probability” of a possible closure, office spokeswoman Lori Hogan told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.
She noted that the GSA had the Dick Cheney building on its list of “non-core” assets slated for sale earlier this week. And she registered surprise when told the list’s webpage had been scrubbed.
The GSA did not immediately respond to a Cowboy State Daily request for comment.
As for Hageman, she was also terse, saying, “Rightsizing the federal government should come with an assessment of which office space and real estate is being underutilized. I would expect this analysis to happen and once the information is provided, we can act.”
Barrasso said he's aware of the list's appearance on a webpage and its removal this week, and is seeking additional information, while working with the Trump Administration "as they look to cut wasteful Washington spending."
A list of buildings on a federal government list to liquidate includes the Dick Cheney Building in Casper. The list has since been removed. 
An article in the June 2, 1999, Casper Star-Tribune reflects the renaming of the federal building to honor Dick Cheney. (Courtesy Newspapers.com)
A Walk Within
Inside the building Wednesday, two female workers in the second-floor hallway said they had “no comment” on the potential closure of the building.
Staff in Barasso’s office on the second floor and Lummis’ on the third floor directed Cowboy State Daily to contact Washington, D.C.-based media representatives.
Lummis’ Communications Director Katie Warbinton said the senator’s office had “reached out to the GSA for more information.”
Those working in the offices for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service also directed all questions to their Washington headquarters, as did a Federal Protective Service guard who provided a Department of Homeland Security public affairs contact in Washington, D. C.
Cowboy State Daily was directed to the ground floor GSA office by a Homeland Security officer before being able to visit the fourth floor that contains an office for Hageman, the FBI and U.S. Department of Labor.
At the GSA office, a woman who identified herself as a contract employee directed any media inquiries to the agency’s media email address.
The Natrona County Assessor’s property profile for the building lists the building as a commercial office building, with a reinforced concrete classification, an actual value of $26.1 million and an assessed valuation of $2.4 million.
The Natrona County Treasurer’s Office confirmed that the property is tax exempt.
More Uncertainty
The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, which is best known as Elon Musk’s government-slashing agency under President Donald Trump, says the Lander-based federal prosecutor’s office is scheduled for lease termination.
Hogan said her office has, however, heard from the GSA that that is no longer accurate.
That office provides space for three attorneys and one paralegal. It is near a small outpost of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and it abuts the Wind River Indian Reservation, where most felony-level crimes fall under federal jurisdiction.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com and Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
