The JFK Library in Boston reopened its doors Wednesday after the Kennedy family’s public lambasting of Elon Musk’s DOGE and President Donald Trump’s efforts to cull its staff.
Former President John F. Kennedy’s grandson and grandnephew both publicly raged against the decision to shutter the facility as part of the cost-slashing effort sweeping across the federal government. At the Boston facility, five critical staff lost their jobs Tuesday, according to reports.
Soon afterward, the building abruptly closed, with visitors dramatically whisked off the premises. A spokesperson said the shuttering was due directly to a recent executive order signed by Trump. Signs on the premises said the same.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey lambasted Trump and Musk’s “thoughtless crusade,” before the facility, which is run by the National Archives, did a sensational 180. The doors opened again as normal on Wednesday after input from the Kennedy family.
“The National Archives staff looks forward to welcoming guests, visitors and researchers,” the agency said just hours after the closure. Social media statements and website info detailing the closure were also scrubbed.
Describing the shutdown Tuesday, which saw the facility left without a receptionist or ticket staff, among others, an anonymous employee told The Washington Post that the facility had no option but to close.
“The director of the library made the decision to close the museum because they couldn’t sell tickets, and they couldn’t manage the visitor experience,” the employee said. “There’s obviously a responsibility to make sure the visitors are safe, etc., so he closed the museum until further notice.”
Soon after, John F. Kennedy’s only grandson, Jack Schlossberg, returned to social media to berate DOGE and speak out against the events that led to the facility being shuttered.
In a video posted to X just two weeks after dramatically quitting social media, Schlossberg said: “Hey, it’s Jack. I’m OK, but our country is not. It’s under attack from its own government.”
Schlossberg’s clip was directed at Elon Musk and captioned, “Hey DOGE eat s--- buddy.”
“It’s time to speak out and resist what’s happening,” Schlossberg said. “If you’re not doing that, you’re not helping.”
“This is a direct attack on our past to rewrite a new future—yet another example of stealing history from the American people,” Schlossberg later told the Post. “It has nothing to do with government efficiency. The probationary officers who were fired generate revenue for the federal government. This will limit public access not only to the museum and public spaces, but also to the archives and records of the Kennedy administration.”
Joe Kennedy, a former congressman and grandnephew of JFK, also spoke out. “Closing government libraries to try to fund a tax cut for the wealthy seems like a really bad way to balance the budget. But par for the course for this administration,” he said.
Kennedy added: “This is either, to some extent, being pushed by the richest man in the world, who is largely at one point dependent on government contracts for [a] significant part of his work for Space X, Tesla and others, now gutting programs that are used by everyone. The hypocrisy is stunning.”
The closure and reopening comes after Trump fired the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ bipartisan board and installed himself as chairman of the Washington, D.C., institution.
