Elon Musk and DOGE reach Barack Obama: the lease of the former president's library in the United States is cancelled

The actions carried out by Elon Musk, through the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE, for its acronym in English), reached all the way to former President of the United States, Barack Obama, after it was revealed that the lease contract of the site of the Obama Presidential Library was canceled. 

Through its official website, the DOGE announced that the site where the collection was located, within the Hoffman States Library, in the northeast of the city of Chicago, will no longer be part of the list of nearly 750 lease contracts that the agency concluded. 

This action is part of the statutes entrusted by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to cut unnecessary federal expenses. 

What will happen to Obama's library? 

Despite the cancellation of the lease contract for Obama's library, the property that houses nearly 25 million unclassified paper documents, as well as 35,000 physical artifacts, is part of the construction plan of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, located in Jackson Park, in the same city of Illinois, where it will be moved by the end of the year. 

Among the items held at this site, are: 

• Obama's silver Blackberry 

• Draft of his first inaugural speech 

• Pittsburgh Steelers signed American football 

• Jeweled sword from Saudi Arabia 

• Dresses of former First Lady Michelle Obama 

It's worth noting that this complex, dedicated to the 44th President of the United States, is a private initiative supervised by the Obama Foundation, which began construction in 2021. 

It is expected that the building will open its doors next year after the various delays and cost overruns it has suffered. Initially expected to cost $350 million, the figure rose to $830 million in the same year construction began. This will consist of a museum in the form of a 72-meter-high tower, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, conference facilities, a gym, and a regulation-size NBA court. 

According to the DOGE, through its website, the cancellation of the lease contract of this and many other buildings will allow a saving of $468 million in rent for the United States Government. 

Regarding the future of the Hoffman States Library, managed by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), it was scheduled to close its activities by the end of fiscal year 2025, and later move to the College Park area in Maryland. 

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence