President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reportedly terminated the lease at the Obama Presidential Library site.
According to Fox News, this is unlikely to impact operations because it is scheduled to close later this year and move to a new location (via Fox News):
The library is located at the Hoffman Estates in the northwest of Chicago and is separate to the sprawling 19.3-acre Obama Presidential Center near Jackson Park in the southside of Chicago which is under construction and is expected to be completed next year.
The site at the Hoffman Estates is run by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), as are all presidential libraries, while the Obama Presidential Center is a private venture being overseen by the Obama Foundation.
Reportedly, this week, DOGE updated its list of almost 50 federal lease terminations. A spokesperson from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) told Fox News that the Hoffman Estates library is scheduled to move to College Park, Maryland.
NARA reportedly began leasing the building in 2016, shortly before Obama left office. The agency paid $1.4 million each year in rent for the space, The Chicago Tribune reported.
The building is used as temporary storage for tens of millions of documents, classified records and more than 35,000 artifacts and gifts accumulated by the Obama family during the eight years Obama held office, the Tribune added.
Barack Obama Foundation spokesperson Emily Bittner told the Tribune that the $830 million Obama Presidential Center in Chicago is a separate, privately funded organization.
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