Smaller Education Department Loses Its DC Headquarters

The Education Department, the subject of major downsizing by President Trump, will vacate its longtime headquarters in Washington, DC, this summer to make way for the new tenant. The Energy Department is taking over the Lyndon B. Johnson Building in August, officials announced Thursday. Education no longer needs so much space and will move into a smaller site in the District; 70% of the building is unoccupied, Politico reports. The agency says it has lost about half its workforce since Trump's second term began.

"We have made unprecedented progress in reducing the federal education footprint, and now we are pleased to give this building to an agency that will benefit far more from its space," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement, per the Washington Post. According to the Education Department, the relocation will cut federal rental costs by more than $4 million a year, per Politico. The Energy Department, meanwhile, plans to leave its current Forrestal complex a few blocks away. That building has been criticized for its condition, including by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which has suggested it belongs on a list of federal properties that could be discarded. Energy officials say moving out of Forrestal will avoid roughly $350 million in maintenance expenses.