Concern is mounting that taxpayers could be left holding the bag if the Obama Presidential Center runs into financial trouble, as the foundation behind it has yet to establish a promised $470 million safety net to guard against a public bailout.

The scrutiny comes as a Fox News Digital investigation found multiple contractors and subcontractors claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions on the project, with some alleging they remain locked in payment disputes and face financial ruin just days before the center’s grand opening.

Under its agreement with the city, the Obama Foundation pledged to create the fund, known as an endowment, as part of its 99-year deal to take control of the publicly owned 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park for a one-time payment of just $10.

Fox News Digital previously reported that the foundation had deposited just $1 million into the reserve fund in 2021 and that the balance remained largely unchanged in its most recent publicly available filings.

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Concerns about the center’s financial state have raged for years, especially since construction delays and costs have ballooned from an original estimate of roughly $330 million to at least $850 million based on 2021 figures. An updated final projected cost has not been made public.

Endowment concerns

«One of their core promises was they were supposed to create an endowment as basically an insurance policy so the taxpayers wouldn’t get stuck with the bill,» Illinois GOP Chair Robert Grogan told Fox News Digital outside the center last week as worker vehicles entered and exited the center.

«They promised hundreds of millions of dollars for it. It’s still sitting at the $1 million mark [where it stood] when they opened it up. So I don’t believe that they’ve kept that promise.»

The contractor disputes have renewed concern of the endowment because critics argue the fund was intended to serve as a backstop if the project ever encountered financial distress. The Obama Foundation disputes suggestions that taxpayers face exposure and said the project is funded through private contributions.

Grogan said reports that contractors and subcontractors remain locked in payment disputes make the largely unfunded reserve even more problematic.

«The fact that they have created this probably unsustainable edifice to an ego and then, eventually, if it goes under, who’s going to be caught with the bill time and time again? It’s the taxpayers of the city, citizens of Chicago and the state of Illinois.»

A «Bring Change Home» banner is displayed outside the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)

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Richard Epstein, a New York University law professor who has spent years challenging the project in court, said the reserve fund was intended to protect against exactly this type of uncertainty.

«The whole point of an endowment is to fund future expenses,» Epstein told Fox News Digital, adding that the endowment acts as a financial backup if future fundraising falls short.

«If the endowment hasn’t been filled, the building [could] fall into neglect, it then becomes a safety risk, and it turns out that nobody’s going to pay the bill,» Epstein said. «The city therefore, is going to have to assume additional obligations to make sure that thing is kept in place.»

Grogan said reports that contractors remain unpaid only reinforce the need for closer scrutiny and called for an investigation if allegations that subcontractors were left holding the bag prove accurate.

Subcontractor disputes raise new questions

A Fox News Digital investigation identified multiple construction firms claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions.

Outside the center last week, Adamson Plumbing President Mike Owen provided company spreadsheets to Fox News Digital, which he said showed that his firm is nearly $4 million in the red. He said that unnecessary rework, delays and more than 100 change-order requests left his company absorbing millions of dollars in additional costs.

In addition, Omar Shareef, the president of the African American Contractors Association, told Fox News Digital outside the center last Saturday that several Black-owned contractors are also in financial difficulty due to the project.

Mike Owen, president and owner of Adamson Plumbing, stands outside the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)

The claims raise fresh worries about the center’s long-term financial sustainability because an endowment is intended to provide a permanent source of income that can help fund future operations and cushion against financial stress. Endowments are typically invested, with a portion of the earnings used to support an institution over time.

The Obama Foundation told Fox News Digital that it is in compliance with its agreement with the city, noting that the pact required the creation of an endowment but did not specify a dollar target.

OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER DEPOSITS JUST $1M INTO $470M RESERVE FUND AIMED TO PROTECT TAXPAYERS

The foundation said the Obama Presidential Center is «fully funded» and that it plans to make «significant investments» in the endowment in the coming years.

«On the eve of our Grand Opening celebrations, we are pleased to reiterate that the Obama Presidential Center is fully funded with generous private contributions,» the Obama Foundation said in a statement.

The $470 million figure emerged during public discussions surrounding the project and was later cited in the Obama Foundation’s 2020 annual report, which featured a fundraising chart stating:

«$470M of our fundraising goal will go toward seeding an endowment that will sustain Obama Foundation activities and the operations of the OPC for generations to come.»

The foundation previously estimated annual operating costs could reach approximately $40 million.

Illinois GOP Chair Robert Grogan stands outside the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Grogan criticized the Obama Foundation over its handling of the center’s endowment and raised concerns about potential taxpayer exposure if the project encounters future financial difficulties. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)

Nonprofit endowments are typically structured so that only a small percentage of the fund — often around 4% to 5% annually — is spent each year while the principal remains invested. The goal is to generate investment income that can help support operations over the long term without relying entirely on future fundraising. The Obama Presidential Center consists of a museum tower, digital library, athletic facilities, conference space and offices for the Obama Foundation on Chicago’s South Side. The Obama Foundation is overseeing its construction and will run its day-to-day future operations.

Epstein disputed the foundation’s interpretation, arguing that an endowment is intended to provide meaningful financial protection and that a promise to raise money in the future is not the same as having a funded endowment in place.

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«On their view, putting a penny in an endowment fund covers all the risks,» Epstein said.

«There has to be a pile of cash to fund any particular process and then ensure some kind of robustness against radical changes in the market.»

El pronóstico climatológico para Costa Rica durante el período junio 2026–mayo 2027 alerta sobre un inminente episodio de El Niño-Oscilación del Sur (ENOS), fenómeno asociado al calentamiento anómalo de las aguas del Pacífico ecuatorial y vinculado a severas alteraciones de los patrones pluviométricos y térmicos nacionales.

Según el Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), la probabilidad de que El Niño adquiera fuerza inusitada durante el segundo semestre de 2026 es superior al 82%, con impactos directos que podrían trastocar la economía cotidiana de los costarricenses, especialmente a través del aumento en la factura de energía eléctrica.

El informe técnico de la Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) y el IMN, publicado como Estrategia Nacional de Contingencia al Fenómeno de El Niño 2026, subraya que las proyecciones para el pacífico costarricense –en particular Guanacaste y el Valle Central– apuntan a reducciones de lluvia de hasta un 50% respecto a los promedios históricos.

Estas condiciones, lejos de ser solo una amenaza para la agricultura o la producción, afectan de manera transversal a los sistemas nacionales de generación hidroeléctrica, columna vertebral de la matriz energética costarricense.

En años anteriores, y en particular durante el evento de 2014-2015, incluso una manifestación moderada del ENOS provocó caídas en los caudales de los principales embalses utilizados para la generación eléctrica.

Esta historia se repite: el déficit de lluvias pronosticado obligaría al Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) a reducir la producción de energía hidroeléctrica, incrementando la dependencia de fuentes térmicas (búnker y diésel), que resultan más caras y contaminantes. El propio ICE, según el plan de contingencia, ha previsto la contratación de hasta 273 MW de plantas térmicas como respaldo para los meses críticos de la próxima época seca.

Este cambio forzoso en la matriz de generación, sumado a una mayor presión en la demanda de aire acondicionado y bombeo de agua ante temperaturas que pueden superar el promedio histórico en entre 1.5°C y 2°C en regiones como Guanacaste, amenaza con elevar los costos operativos del sector eléctrico. En palabras simples: si se mantiene la tendencia, queda poco margen para evitar trasladar esos mayores costos a los consumidores residenciales, comerciales e industriales vía aumento tarifario.

La Estrategia Nacional de Contingencia detalla que, ante la inminencia del fenómeno, no se descartan racionamientos programados ni la importación extraordinaria de electricidad a precios mayores desde el Mercado Eléctrico Regional centroamericano. Además, se impulsan medidas de eficiencia, como la ampliación acelerada de proyectos solares y eólicos, la instalación de luminarias LED inteligentes y la optimización del uso de los aires acondicionados en el sector público, en un intento por contener el alza de la factura eléctrica.

Sin embargo, expertos del IMN y la CNE señalan que, si bien estas acciones pueden mitigar levemente el impacto inmediato, el efecto acumulado de una sequía severa –similar a las experimentadas en 1998, 2015-2016 o 2019– podría dejar huellas más profundas y prolongadas en las tarifas eléctricas.

El Marco Normativo vigente, basado en la Ley Nacional de Emergencias y Prevención del Riesgo, exige la priorización de la gestión preventiva y la optimización de los recursos, pero reconoce que escenarios de déficit hidroeléctrico sostenido podrían forzar la utilización de fondos extraordinarios o la incorporación de mecanismos de excepción para proteger la estabilidad financiera del sistema.

En conclusión, los costarricenses deben prepararse para un escenario en el que el cambio climático, expresado a través de la fase cálida del ENOS, no solo amenaza la agricultura y el suministro de agua, sino que pone directa presión sobre la factura de energía eléctrica. El llamado de las autoridades es claro: informarse, ahorrar y exigir acciones coordinadas y transparentes para asegurar que el impacto de El Niño no comprometa el acceso, la calidad y la asequibilidad de la energía, piedra angular del bienestar social y productivo nacional.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), in collaboration with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), is removing nearly two dozen foreign products from its official catalog that supplies government agencies, citing fears that some of them may be misrepresenting their sourcing.

Kelly Loeffler, SBA administrator, raised concerns that China-based companies were falsely marketing their products as «made in America» on the Advantage! platform — a listing service the government uses to connect vendors with agencies.

«As part of our commitment to rebuilding American industry and supply chains, the Trump SBA believes that every taxpayer dollar spent by the federal government should go to support American businesses, workers and products,» Loeffler said.

SBA’s crackdown furthers efforts by the Trump administration to double down on American manufacturing and aims to reduce the risk associated with purchasing or implementing compromised China-sourced goods.

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The concerns first arose at the White House Small Business Summit where a New York-based small business, Sherrill Manufacturing, communicated suspicions to SBA that China-based companies were only partially assembling or finishing their products in the U.S.

Sherrill, according to the SBA, is the only manufacturer of stainless steel flatware that is 100% made in America.

«When foreign companies were caught falsely claiming ‘Made in America’ status in the federal procurement system, President Trump directed the SBA and GSA to take aggressive action,» Loeffler said.

Even in his first term, Trump used executive orders to maximize the use of domestically sourced raw materials such as iron, aluminum and cement. He issued a similar executive order earlier this year.

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President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

But sourcing protections for federal materials didn’t start with him.

For security reasons, the Berry Amendment, implemented in 1941, requires the Department of War to purchase only American-sourced steel.

Similarly, the Buy American Act (BAA), a Great Depression-era law that passed in 1933, requires federal agencies to prioritize American-made goods over certain value thresholds.

Loeffler explained that companies like Sherrill Manufacturing can be put unknowingly at risk of violating those requirements if vendors aren’t honest about their sourcing.

«The Trump Administration is sending a clear message that we will not tolerate foreign impostors that hijack Made in America labels, or those that undercut honest, generational, American small businesses like Sherrill Manufacturing,» Loeffler said.

The company’s CEO, Matthew Roberts, praised the SBA’s work and thanked the Trump administration.

«The factory where Sherrill Manufacturing and Liberty Tabletop produce their flatware has a manufacturing history dating back to supplying America’s armed forces during World War I,» Roberts said.

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Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 27, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg)

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«We deeply appreciate President Trump, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, and GSA Administrator Ed Forst, along with their offices, for their continued efforts to keep American manufacturing alive and restore pride in products made in the USA,» he added.

SBA did not list which specific vendors have been removed from the Advantage! platform.