The Department of Education Is Leaving Its Headquarters. What That Means — and What It Doesn't

The Lyndon B. Johnson Department of Education Building at 400 Maryland Avenue SW in Washington, D.C. — named for the president who signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and championed the creation of a cabinet-level education department — will be vacated by the Department of Education in August 2026 and handed to the Department of Energy, after a 50% workforce reduction left roughly 70% of the building unoccupied.

The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that it will vacate its longtime Washington, D.C. headquarters — the Lyndon B. Johnson building — and relocate to a smaller federal office building approximately one block away, saving an estimated $4.8 million annually in rental costs. The Department of Energy will move into the LBJ building in exchange, avoiding more than $350 million in deferred maintenance costs on its current building.

The targeted move date is August 2026.