Former President Joe Biden has chosen his home state of Delaware as the location for his presidential library, but the Joe and Jill Biden Foundation’s newly formed oversight board said it will not set a budget as it begins fundraising.
The foundation approved a 13-member board of close confidants and former officials to oversee the project and solicit donations to preserve the 82-year-old Democrat’s four years as president. The board includes former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and longtime adviser Steve Ricchetti, and Democratic fundraiser Rufus Gifford was named chairman.
Gifford said potential donors had not all been engaged previously but were beginning to show interest. “There’s certainly folks — folks who may have been not thinking about those kinds of issues who are starting to think about them,” he said. He added, however, that the board would not set an aspirational goal it believed could not be met: “That being said … we’re not going to create a budget, we’re not going to set a goal for ourselves that we don’t believe we can hit.”
Foundation officials said the decision to avoid an immediate budget reflects a fundraising-first approach. The board’s role will include identifying donors, developing plans for preserving Biden’s presidential papers and records, and determining the scale and scope of a library and museum that the foundation said is intended to reflect Biden’s time in office.
Presidential libraries and associated museums often require substantial private fundraising in addition to federal archives support, and recent high-profile projects have increased scrutiny of costs and community impact. Former President Barack Obama’s planned library and museum in Chicago has drawn criticism over an estimated $850 million price tag and has faced legal challenges and delays, underscoring potential political and logistical obstacles for large-scale presidential projects.
The Biden foundation has not disclosed a precise site in Delaware, a timeline for construction or a target completion date. Board members will begin outreach to prospective donors and partners in the coming months as they refine plans. The foundation’s announcement marks the formal start of an effort that will combine private fundraising and coordination with the National Archives and Records Administration for the transfer and stewardship of presidential records.