Annapolis, Maryland– Maryland officials sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday for blocking previously approved construction of a new FBI headquarters outside the nation’s capital.
Gov. Wes Moore joined other Maryland leaders to criticize the plan To move the FBI headquarters Several blocks from its current home in Washington to Ronald Reagan’s building complex, instead of Greenbelt, Maryland, which the Biden administration chose for a state-of-the-art building after years of planning.
The FBI announced the change over the summer after a years-long battle over the location. But Moore, a Democrat, called that building “too old, too small, too exposed.”
“The big problem with the current FBI building is that it lacks the modern security provisions and protections that the office needs in 2025,” the governor said in a press conference with other Maryland officials.
Washington suburbs location Chosen by the Biden administration It was chosen over nearby Virginia after intense competition between the two states.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said the Trump administration illegally ignored years of planning by Congress.
“What we’re really seeing is that the administration doesn’t like the decision that Congress made, so they’re trying to undo it without going back to Congress,” Brown said. “This 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 divert more than $1 billion in funds that Congress specifically appropriated for the Greenbelt project.”
“They violated express congressional directives that limited site selection to the three permitted sites,” Brown said. “They ignored federal requirements to consult with state and local governments, and acted arbitrarily and capriciously by abandoning years of careful planning without explanation or justification.”
In the federal lawsuit, Maryland is asking the court to “stop the illegal selection of the Reagan Building, block the diversion of funds allocated to Congress, and ensure the Trump administration follows the law,” Brown said.
The Ministry of Justice declined to comment on the lawsuit.
U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks said the Greenbelt site was chosen after a comprehensive and transparent selection process that found it to be “the best location for a new FBI headquarters that meets the Bureau’s security and mission needs.”
“The Trump administration has no reason to ignore this selection, or redirect even a penny that Congress appropriated specifically to build the competitively selected site,” the senators said in a joint statement.
Building the headquarters in Greenbelt will be the largest economic development project in the county’s history, creating more than 7,500 jobs and adding about $4 billion in economic benefits to the county and state, Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Pravibhoy said.
The current FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue, is J. Edgar Hoover BuildingIt was dedicated in 1975. Supporters of moving the headquarters said Brutalist style buildingwhere netting surrounds the facility to protect pedestrians from falling debris, has fallen into disrepair. Discussions have been ongoing for years to move it.
The FBI and 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 build an entirely new building in suburban Washington, which they said would take years and be costly to taxpayers.
The Reagan Building houses, among other tenants, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.