Education Department to leave Lyndon B. Johnson headquarters as downsizing shifts operations across federal agencies

Relocation planned as footprint shrinks

The U.S. Department of Education is preparing to vacate its longtime Washington headquarters at 400 Maryland Avenue SW—known as the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building—as part of an ongoing federal downsizing and reorganization of the agency’s work.

Federal officials have scheduled the department’s move to a smaller office space elsewhere in Washington for August 2026. The Department of Energy is set to assume the lease for the building, a transfer framed by the administration as a cost-saving measure tied to reduced office utilization and the avoidance of major maintenance needs.

Workforce reductions and building utilization

The headquarters shift follows significant staffing cuts and organizational changes that have thinned the department’s on-site presence. Administration statements have described the building as largely underused, with much of the space unoccupied after a wave of layoffs and departures.

The physical move is the latest operational step within a broader campaign to reduce the department’s role, while acknowledging that the formal closure of a Cabinet-level department would require congressional action.

Programs dispersed through interagency agreements

Alongside workforce reductions, several responsibilities historically managed by the Education Department have been reassigned through interagency agreements. Over the past year, functions tied to multiple education initiatives—including efforts related to school safety and community engagement grants—have been shifted to other federal departments.

Student loan administration has also been targeted for restructuring. In March 2026, an agreement transferred management of federal student loans in default to the Treasury Department, an initial step in a plan to move the wider federal student loan portfolio at a later, unspecified date. The federal student loan portfolio has been cited by federal officials as totaling roughly $1.7 trillion, with defaulted loans accounting for a substantial share of that total.

Political and legal context

The headquarters departure comes after a series of legal disputes over the administration’s authority to implement major reductions in force and reorganize the department’s duties. In 2025, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to proceed with layoffs affecting nearly 1,400 Education Department employees while litigation continued in lower courts. Lawsuits have argued that large-scale staffing reductions could impair the department’s ability to carry out responsibilities established by Congress, including the administration of federal aid programs and civil rights enforcement.

Key points

• The Education Department plans to relocate from its D.C. headquarters in August 2026.
• The Department of Energy is expected to take over the lease for the current headquarters building.
• Multiple programs and operational responsibilities have been moved to other federal agencies via interagency agreements.
• Defaulted federal student loans are being transferred for management to the Treasury Department, with broader transfers under consideration.

The move underscores a shift from a centralized department footprint toward a dispersed model of federal education administration, with core questions continuing in courts and in Congress about the limits of executive authority and the long-term structure of federal education governance.