Department of Education to leave building after 40 years as part of effort to eliminate government agency

FIRST ON FOX - The Department of Education (ED) announced Thursday it will move to a smaller building to reduce the agency's footprint as part of its broader effort to dismantle itself.

Department staff will move out of the Lyndon B. Johnson headquarters building so the Department of Energy can eventually move in by August. 

The move is what the officials call "a prudent step to save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and further reduce the federal education bureaucracy."

The ED said its relocation will save taxpayers approximately $4.8 million annually in operating costs and eliminate wasted space in a building that is about 70% vacant. 

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A Department of Education sign is displayed outside the federal student aid office May 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

"One year ago, President Trump signed one of the most consequential executive orders of his presidency to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said. 

The Trump administration announced last week an interagency agreement between the ED and the Department of Treasury, with an official calling it the "largest" step to shutting the agency down.

The official previously told Fox News Digital that staff is working to put themselves out of a job under President Donald Trump's orders because the agency is not needed.

A Department of Education official told Fox News Digital that staff is working to put themselves out of a job under President Donald Trump's orders because the agency is not needed. (Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

This agreement follows nine agency partnerships over the past year as the Department of Education seeks to minimize itself, shifting power from some of its offices and programs to other federal agencies.

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While Congress holds the key to shutting the operation down for good, McMahon plans to show legislators that the interagency agreements are "proof of concept" that the ED is not needed for federal grant aid and federal student loans to continue flowing to borrowers.

Throughout the 2024 campaign, candidate Trump promised to eliminate the Department of Education and signed an executive order directing his administration to start disbanding it. 

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The U.S. Department of Education headquarters building in Washington, D.C.  (J. David Ake/Getty Images)

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