A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from moving the FBI headquarters to a federal building in Washington, D.C., after a yearslong battle over the agency’s future home.
The FBI’s current headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, is severely deteriorated and outdated, requiring millions of dollars in maintenance. The Biden administration selected a site in Greenbelt, Maryland, for a new FBI campus after an intense competition over the location. But last year, the Trump administration announced that the FBI would instead move to the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, saying the decision would “support the administration’s goal to optimize the federal real-estate portfolio” and save taxpayer money.
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U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, ruled Monday that the proposed move violated federal law. He blocked the administration from relocating the FBI to the Reagan building, renovating the facility for the agency, or repurposing funds that Congress had allocated for the new headquarters.
“This is not the first time courts have tried to undermine the administration in its goal to make government more cost-effective for American taxpayers,” the FBI said in a statement. “The court has chosen to impermissibly intervene for political reasons. This FBI is mission focused and will continue the best course of action to meet the needs of law enforcement.”
The lawsuit was brought by the state of Maryland and Prince George’s County, where the Greenbelt site is located.
“Maryland and Prince George’s County committed more than a decade of work to earn the FBI headquarters and pledged hundreds of millions of dollars,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) said in a statement. “By blocking the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to move the FBI to the Reagan Building and divert the funds Congress set aside for this project, the Court has cleared the path back to Greenbelt.”
Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) said the ruling should allow officials to move forward with construction.
“Now it is time to stop the games and get to work building the world-class FBI headquarters that our public servants deserve, where it belongs: in Prince George’s County, Maryland,” Moore said.
The Maryland site was selected over a proposed location in Northern Virginia following an intense bidding competition between the states.
“We competed against surrounding jurisdictions, and we won,” Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy said. “This is a huge economic prize. It’s a $4 billion investment, which is the largest single investment in Prince George’s County. It’ll bring over 7,500 jobs.”
