Education Secretary’s $43,000 Office Furniture Plan as She Pushes to Close the Department

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has authorized the purchase of new office furnishings—desk, conference table, chairs and related items—at an estimated cost of $43,278.64. The move comes while McMahon is lobbying Congress to permanently shutter the Department of Education.

The Guardian

In March, McMahon announced that the department would vacate its long-standing headquarters in the Lyndon B. Johnson building and relocate to a smaller, privately owned office block one block south. The new site previously housed the U.S. Agency for International Development, which the Trump administration closed last year. McMahon argues that the relocation will reduce the department’s operating footprint and generate multi-million-dollar annual savings.

The Guardian

• Furniture purchase: $43,278.64.

New York Times

• McMahon’s public estimate of annual savings from the move: about $5 million.

The Guardian

• Press secretary Savannah Newhouse’s figure for annual savings: $4.8 million.

The Guardian

• Staffing has been cut by roughly 50 percent, and several program responsibilities have been transferred to other agencies through inter-agency agreements.

The Guardian

Savannah Newhouse, the department’s press secretary, framed the furniture purchase as a normal cost of maintaining a functional federal office, adding that the administration is “saving taxpayers millions of dollars” through its broader education-cut agenda.

The Guardian

The two sources differ on the projected annual savings: McMahon’s own estimate is $5 million, while Newhouse cites $4.8 million. Neither source provides a detailed breakdown of the furniture budget, and the Department of Education’s ability to dissolve itself remains limited—Congress has not taken action to formally close the agency despite the administration’s intent.

The Guardian