Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is set to save nearly half a billion dollars by terminating multiple leases, including the Obama Presidential Library’s in Hoffman Estates, northwest of Chicago.
The library is run by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and is distinct from the 19.3 acre privately-owned Obama Presidential Center near Jackson Park, southside of Chicago, which is still under construction.
The center has been plagued by delays and cost increases from the initial $350 million to $830 million, with more cost hikes anticipated. It will host a museum, library, and community and conference facilities and feature a 235-foot-high “museum tower,” a two-story event space, an athletic center, a recording studio, a winter garden, and a sledding hill. The Obama Foundation which is overseeing its construction will also be hosted at the building.
Nonetheless, its opening date remains unknown as is its final construction cost. The Presidential Center was also the subject of a $40 billion lawsuit by a contractor alleging racial discrimination.
According to various sources, the Obama Presidential Library hosts about 25 million paper documents which are being digitized and will be available to the Obama Presidential Center once completed. However, NARA still owns the records under the 1978 Presidential Records Act.
The Library Center also hosts 35,000 physical artifacts, including presidential gifts, which belong to the federal government unless the president pays for their preservation.
Some of Obama’s artifacts include the former president’s silver BlackBerry, his paper-written inaugural speech, a jeweled Saudi Arabian sword, a signed football from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the dress worn by the former First Lady during his inauguration.
The library lease termination is among 750 others amounting to about 9.6 million square feet, costing the federal government about $468 million. The library will be relocated to College Park in Maryland, which hosts the National Archives at College Park (also known as Archives II). Both the documents and physical artifacts will be transferred to the secondary location. However, the Obama Presidential Center can occasionally borrow the artifacts for display.
Meanwhile, terminating the Obama Presidential Library lease alone will save American taxpayers about $1.4 million in annual rent, though officials say they had planned to end it at the end of the federal government’s fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, 2025.
Nonetheless, the lease termination is among various challenges facing the former president amid rumors of an impending divorce. The rumors came to light after former president Obama attended Jimmy Carter’s state funeral alone contrary to tradition.
Critics also argue that Musk terminated the lease with malicious intent to punish the former president and building owners for their political beliefs. However, with 750 leases terminated simultaneously and more storage room available at Archives II, no evidence suggests that Musk specifically targeted the former president.
Other critics also argue that the lease termination will have little to no insignificant cost-cutting benefits, since the contracts were likely already paid. Nonetheless, Musk continues to take aggressive steps to reduce federal government’s waste, corruption, and inefficiency at the request of President Trump.
