Maryland officials from Prince George’s County have pledged to fight the Trump administration’s decision to keep the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The FBI announced its new headquarters will be moved to the Ronald Reagan Building complex in Washington, D.C., in a press release on July 1. The headquarters had planned to move to Greenbelt, Maryland, where a building was going to be constructed specially for it.
However, President Donald Trump vetoed the order issued by the Biden administration in 2023, citing the high costs of the construction project that would fall on taxpayers. Maryland leaders objected to the move, claiming the new headquarters in Maryland would have helped the area and its local businesses.
“We won it fair and square,” said Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy, reported by NBC4 Washington. “We intend to use every resource and strategy in order to continue to advocate for the headquarters moving here to Prince George’s County.”
Leaders’ frustration can also be attributed to their more than decade-long effort to see the headquarters relocated to Maryland, as well as having to put other projects on hold in anticipation of the relocation.
“Why even have a process if it can be blown up at the last minute and somebody else can arbitrarily assign it another site?” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to NBC4 Washington.
The Trump administration stands by its decision, as does FBI Director Kash Patel. “Moving to the Ronald Reagan Building is the most cost effective and resource efficient way to carry out our mission to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution,” said Patel in the press release.
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Stephen Ehikian, acting Administrator for the General Services Administration, also endorses the move to the Reagan building. “I am proud of the GSA’s commitment to working with Director Patel and his FBI team to find a building that best supports their mission and their people,” he said.
In the meantime, Maryland leaders plan to do everything they can to stop the relocation to the Reagan building, arguing that Congress still needs to approve the move.