Education Department Will Vacate Its Headquarters as the Energy Department Takes Over the Lease

The Education Department announced on March 26, 2026 that it will move out of its Washington headquarters into smaller office space, with the Energy Department assuming the lease. The relocation is planned for August 2026. Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the move a milestone in the administration's effort to shutter the agency and said it would reduce the federal education footprint. The building was reported to be roughly 70 percent vacant after mass layoffs. The department has already transferred programs to other agencies through interagency agreements, including student loan management to the Treasury and family engagement and teacher training programs to Health and Human Services and the Labor Department.

The Department of Education was created by statute in 1979 and can only be abolished by Congress. Moving its functions out through interagency agreements and shrinking its physical footprint accomplishes much of the same result administratively, which is the core of the dispute over whether the executive branch may unwind a congressionally created department without legislation.

The relocation was announced as planned for August 2026. The union representing department employees said it viewed the move as a signal of further cuts.