The U.S. Department of Education is accelerating its downsizing and transferring major program operations. The agency announced it will abandon its long-time headquarters in the Lyndon B. Johnson building and relocate to 500 D Street NW in August, with the U.S. Department of Energy taking the LBJ lease. In parallel, the Education Department’s interagency agreements expand: Treasury will assume operational responsibility for defaulted student loan debt, and the department is positioning additional authority changes tied to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The move is framed as government “working smarter,” but education employee representatives warn it erodes trust and increases confusion for schools and borrowers. The broader implication for higher education is compliance strain—campuses and students may face shifting points of contact across federal student aid operations, especially as ED’s loan portfolio approaches $1.7 trillion and nearly a quarter of borrowers are in default.