DOGE has ended the lease at the Obama Presidential Library site. (Alex Wong/Getty Images, left, and Andrew Harnik/Getty Images, right.)
OBAMA CENTER SUBCONTRACTOR FILES $40M DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST ENGINEERING FIRM FOR OVERRUNS
DOGE this week updated its list of nearly 750 federal lease terminations, totaling around 9.6 million square feet in size, which included the Hoffman Estates site. The agency, which has been tasked by President Donald Trump to cut wasteful federal spending, said the terminations will save the taxpayer $468 million in lease savings.
The DOGE website did not provide a timetable for the closures, although a NARA spokesperson told Fox News Digital the Hoffman Estates library was scheduled to close in late Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and move to College Park in Maryland. The government’s FY 2025 runs through Sept. 30, 2025.
There are about 25 million unclassified paper documents at the Hoffman Estate building, according to NARA’s estimate, and they are currently being digitized and will be available in digital format at the Obama Presidential Center when it opens. Under the 1978 Presidential Records Act, NARA gets custody of all presidential records and artifacts when a president leaves office.
The Obama Presidential Library is separate to the Obama Presidential Center, right, which is under construction. (Scott Olson/Getty Images, left, Fox News, right.)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The building is owned by Hoffman Estates Medical Development LLC, who bought it in 2011 and transformed it into a fortified, climate-controlled facility.
The Obama Presidential Library is expected to open some time next year and has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. It was initially expected to cost $350 million but that figure ballooned to $830 million in 2021. It is unclear what the total costs will be.
It will consist of a 235-foot tower museum, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. It will also house the nonprofit Obama Foundation, which is overseeing the center’s development.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/musks-doge-terminates-lease-at-obama-presidential-library-site