South Dakota SCIF Plan Stirs DHS, CISA Scrutiny

Senior DHS officials want to sponsor a TS/SCI secure facility (SCIF) at Dakota State University in Sioux Falls, SD, but current and former CISA/DHS staff say there’s no clear national-security need for a SD-based SCIF and warn about funding, accreditation costs, and potential political favoritism toward the Noem-aligned university; the plan, tied to a March executive order, would require university construction and federal involvement only in accreditation, raising questions about whether it’s worth the optics and expense given limited regional demand for highly classified space.