Maryland sues Trump administration over location of FBI headquarters
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland officials sued President Donald Trump’s administration Thursday for blocking previously approved construction of the new FBI headquarters just outside the nation’s capital.
Gov. Wes Moore joined other Maryland leaders in criticizing plans to move the FBI headquarters several blocks from its current headquarters in Washington to the Ronald Reagan Building complex, instead of moving it to Greenbelt, Maryland, which had been chosen by the Biden administration for a modern building after years of planning.
The FBI announced the change over the summer, after a year-long battle over the choice of venue. But Moore, a Democrat, described the building as “too old, too small and too exposed.”
“The big problem with the current FBI building is that it doesn’t have the modern security provisions and protections that the bureau needs in 2025,” the governor said at a news conference with other Maryland officials.
The suburban Washington location chosen by the Biden administration was chosen over neighboring Virginia following intense competition between the two states.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said the Trump administration illegally threw out years of Congressional planning.
“What we’re really seeing is an administration that doesn’t like the decision Congress made, so they’re trying to overturn it without going back to Congress,” Brown said. “It violates federal law. It violates congressional directives. It harms Marylanders who were promised jobs and opportunity. That’s why we took action.”
Brown, a Democrat, said the Trump administration is “attempting to reprogram and illegally transfer more than $1 billion in funds that Congress designated specifically for the Greenbelt project.”
“They violated explicit congressional directives that limited site selection to the three permitted locations. They ignored federal requirements to consult with state and local governments, and they acted arbitrarily and capriciously by abandoning years of careful planning without explanation or justification,” Brown said.
In the federal lawsuit, Maryland is asking the court to “stop the illegal selection of the Reagan Building, prevent the misappropriation of funds allocated by Congress and ensure that the Trump administration follows the law,” Brown said.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the suit.
U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks said the Greenbelt site was chosen after a thorough and transparent selection process that found it to be the “best site for a new FBI headquarters meeting the Bureau’s security and mission needs.”
“The Trump Administration has no reason to ignore this selection, or to redirect even a single cent that Congress specifically appropriated toward construction of the competitively selected site,” the senators said in a joint statement.
Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy said construction of the headquarters in Greenbelt would be the largest economic development project in the county’s history, creating more than 7,500 jobs and adding about $4 billion in economic impact to the county and state.
The FBI’s current headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, was dedicated in 1975. Supporters of moving the headquarters said the brutalist-style building, where netting surrounds the facility to protect pedestrians from falling debris, has fallen into disrepair. Discussions have been underway for years to move it.
The FBI and the General Services Administration announced in a joint statement in July that moving the headquarters just a few blocks away to an existing property would avoid the need to construct an entirely new building in suburban Washington, which they said would have taken years and been costly for taxpayers.
The Reagan Building houses, among other tenants, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
