Several Indiana Federal Buildings May Close

Source: WISH-TV / WISH-TV

INDIANAPOLIS — A new Veterans Administration hospital planned for Indianapolis might not be built because of plans by the Dept. of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to make government more efficient.  

Congressman Andre Carson confirmed that the Trump administration had canceled a feasibility study on building a new V.A. medical facility in Indy.  

Also, two federal buildings may be closing, including the Major Gen. Emmett J. Bean Federal Center on East 56th St. in Lawrence, and Minton Caprhart Federal Building on Pennsylvania St. The Bean Building serves primarily as a financial center for the Dept. of Defense in Indiana, while the Minton-Capehart Building houses Social Security offices.  

“DOGE claims these buildings are functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by the federal workforce. This is untrue. I serve as a senior member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and we publicly reviewed and approved both local facilities to ensure they are in the best condition possible to fulfill their respective agency missions,” said Congressman Carson, in a prepared statement.  

“DOGE’s website is deceptively sparse on details, but big on numbers that don’t add up. It provides no substantive cost-benefit analysis or mission-driven justification for these terrible actions.”  

In New Albany, the Lee H. Hamilton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse may be closing and is on a list that appeared on the General Services Administration’s website, which has since been taken down.  

The Hamilton building provides courthouse space for cases in the Southern District of Indiana.  

Were the buildings to be sold, they could be sold, with the money used for purposes deemed necessary by DOGE. Carson said his team is working to try and stop the “disposal” of the buildings and reverse the decision to stop the building of a new V.A. hospital.