The first phase of relocating Department of Energy’s headquarters staff to a new location in Washington, D.C., could get started by the end of 2026, although it might not be finished until early 2028, a source said this week.
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told a staff town hall-style meeting Wednesday April 1 the department will have more details in June on the plan to move from the Forrestal Building to the Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) Building, according to a source with knowledge of the briefing.
One of the more demanding aspects of the planned move, announced last week by DOE and the General Services Administration, will be equipping the new headquarters with Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) areas, multiple sources have told the Exchange Monitor.
These are areas where DOE employees with proper clearance, primarily the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), can go to discuss classified information. Select individuals within DOE’s Office of Environmental Management might also have some access to SCIF areas, the source said.
Employees with clearances sufficient for SCIF access were among the first called back into the office by DOE after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Renovating the new building with SCIF access is a big job and as a result, staff with that level of clearance could be among the last to relocate, the source said.
The source expects that DOE political appointees might be among the first group to relocate to the new digs, similar to when politics and managers were among the first ordered back on-site after COVID.
During the briefing, DOE managers said that a number of people who live closer to the DOE’s Germantown, Md., offices might relocate there as well.
The Forrestal Building at 1000 Independence Avenue, SW. has the capacity to accommodate 4,300 people. Exchange Monitor was not able to immediately determine how many DOE and General Services Administration staff are currently working in the building. DOE did not immediately respond to an email inquiry.
A May 2025 report by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation said Forrestal is often included on Washington, D.C. tours as an example of “ugly” architecture and is also no longer able to support DOE’s technology needs.
The LBJ Building located at 400 Maryland Ave SW currently serves as home to the Department of Education. The White House has made deep cuts at Education in what has been described as an effort to dismantle the department. .