DOGE Cuts Temporarily Shut JFK Library

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston was closed to visitors Tuesday after DOGE reportedly fired at least five probationary employees responsible for day-to-day operations. Former congressman Joe Kennedy III, a grandnephew of Kennedy, said the library received notice Tuesday morning from the National Archives and Records Administration that all probationary employees were being laid off immediately, per CBS News. He said five employees, who'd each worked at the library for less than a year, had to be let go, forcing the library to shut its doors. An employee told WCVB that up to nine staffers were laid off.

"It has nothing to do with government efficiency," said Jack Schlossberg, a grandson of the former president, per the New York Times, calling the move "a direct attack on our past to rewrite a new future—yet another example of stealing history from the American people." He also told DOGE and Elon Musk to "eat s--t," per the Daily Beast. The JFK Library Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the library, has in the past honored critics of President Trump—including Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney—with its Profile in Courage Award. "I would like to think that it was not a deliberate target at the Kennedy Library, but I think what we've seen is that there is not exactly a whole lot of thought given to what are the consequences of these actions," Kennedy said, per CBS.

Though the library receives funding from Congress, "the majority of its budget is generated by admission fees and donations," per CBS. Members of the public had to be escorted from the building around 2pm Tuesday as staff members looked on in shock. A sign on the door of the library then appeared, indicating the closure was "due to an Executive Order concerning a 'reduction in force (RIF).'" NARA, which oversees presidential libraries, released a statement Tuesday evening, giving no explanation for the closure but saying the library would reopen Wednesday. The notice on the library's door was then taken down. (The JFK Center for the Performing Arts is also struggling after President Trump became chair.)