Federal Education Department to Downsize Washington Headquarters, Citing Cost Savings

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced it will relocate from the Lyndon B. Johnson headquarters building in Washington to a smaller premises in the district, citing savings of up to $4.8 million annually in operating costs.

The new ED headquarters will be located at 500 D Street SW, with the shift expected to happen in August, according to a March 26 statement from the department.

The existing location’s lease will be assumed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which is moving out of its James V. Forrestal building. DOE’s move to ED’s current location, which is at present roughly 70 percent vacant, is estimated to save more than $350 million in deferred maintenance costs.

“This is a critical step towards ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly and returning education to the states,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a March 26 post on X. “I’m grateful for our partners at [DOE] and [the U.S. General Services Administration], and excited for the next chapter ahead.”

Commenting on the shift in premises, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, “Relocating to the LBJ building will deliver significant taxpayer savings and will ensure the Energy Department continues to deliver on its mission.”

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is working alongside the two departments in the move.

“GSA is partnering with the Department of Education and the Department of Energy to match their missions of tomorrow with ideal environments that power their talented workforce, cuts waste, and lowers costs,” said Administrator Edward C. Forst.

Furthermore, the DOE’s headquarters footprint is estimated to shrink by 45 percent after the move, according to GSA.

The latest ED announcement follows a string of actions taken by the department to break up the “federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” according to McMahon.

“Thanks to the hard work of so many, 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 than the Department of Education,” she said.

“This is an important step in our efforts to forge brighter futures for our nation’s students, honor the taxpayers who invest in their promise, and support the civil servants who keep this vital work moving forward.”

Reducing Departmental Responsibilities

Besides the shift in physical premises, McMahon had previously announced transferring certain key responsibilities to other government departments, such as the Department of Labor for federal grant administration, the Interior Department for assuming responsibilities over education programs that serve schools for Native American students, and the Health and Human Services Department for handling the accreditation process for foreign medical schools.

Moreover, the State Department will oversee international education and foreign language programs. McMahon had also alluded to certain civil rights functions being taken over by the Justice Department, but this has not yet been confirmed.

The National Education Association, the teachers’ union that represents about 3 million educators, issued a statement on Nov. 18, 2025, calling the departmental moves “illegal, cruel, and shameful.”

Becky Pringle, the organization’s president, said that dismantling the department would “mean less resources for our most vulnerable students, larger class sizes, fewer special education services for students with disabilities, and less civil rights protections.”