JFK Presidential Library to reopen after abrupt closure due to federal layoffs
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston closed abruptly Tuesday due to a "sudden dismissal of federal employees," but was expected to reopen Wednesday, officials said.
The closure came shortly after 2 p.m. and the library announced it would be "temporarily closed until further notice."
"The sudden dismissal of federal employees at the JFK Library forced the museum to close today," the nonprofit John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said in a statement. "As the Foundation that supports the JFK Library, we are devastated by this news and will continue to support our colleagues and the Library."
Visitors at the library were escorted out Tuesday afternoon, they told local station WHDH.
"The security people were just ushering us through, telling us we had to leave, the exhibit was closing," Kirsten Peryer told WHDH.
Federal terminations upend agencies
A sign on the door of the JFK Library said its closure was "due to an Executive Order concerning a 'reduction in force (RIF),'" according NPR affiliate WGBH.
Thousands of federal workers were terminated from their jobs in the last week as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's newly created Department of Government Efficiency slash agency budgets across the federal government as part of its "large-scale reductions" in the government workforce.
An executive order signed last week directed the heads of government departments to make cuts. The firings were largely focused on probationary employees, who have held their positions for less than a year. But the cuts are likely just the beginning.
Layoffs have hit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Department of the Interior, Department of Veterans Affairs, and many others.
Fired employees told Paste BN their lives were upended and they were scrambling to navigate the loss of income and termination of beloved jobs.
Library to reopen Wednesday
Just a few hours after the closure, the National Archives said the JFK Library would reopen Wednesday.
"The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum will be open tomorrow, and the National Archives staff looks forward to welcoming guests, visitors, and researchers," the National Archives Public and Media Communications said in a statement shortly after 5:30 p.m.
By 6:25 p.m. the library's website was updated to say it "will reopen on Wednesday February 19." Though the library's website says it is closed on Wednesdays in January and February, spokesperson Matt Porter told Paste BN the library had already planned for this week to be an exception because of the closure of area schools.
The National Archives did not immediately respond to questions from Paste BN on Wednesday about how many employees were affected by the terminations and how it planned to staff the library's reopening.
The JFK Library, like several other presidential museums around the country, is part of the Presidential Library System overseen by the Office of Presidential Libraries in the National Archives and Records Administration. It is supported by the nonprofit JFK Library Foundation.
The JFK Library saw 146,924 visitors in fiscal year 2024, according to the National Archives. It was the second most visited of the 16 presidential libraries in the system, after the Ronald Reagan Library.
Kennedy family reacts to closure
"DOGE and the White House shut down the JFK Library," Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy's 32-year-old grandson, said on his social media pages. "In my opinion, it has nothing to do with government efficiency. The workers who were fired today actually bring in revenue for the government."
Kennedy's niece Maria Shriver posted, "What the ...?!" over a media story announcing the closing.