Headquarters Showdowns: FBI and Space Command Moves Spark Lawsuits
A new chapter in the long-running fight over the relocation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters.
Plans to keep the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, instead of moving to Greenbelt, Maryland, advanced in Congress.
On a party line vote, Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee advanced President Trump’s plan to move the FBI headquarters to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, just three blocks away from the current J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building
Under the Biden Administration, plans were finalized to build a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, but the Trump Administration pulled back on those. The General Services Administration (GSA) said in July that the move would avoid $300 million in delayed maintenance costs to the Hoover building and “billions” in constructing a new campus.
“This approach addresses the needs and mission of the FBI and utilizes an existing federal building with a reasonable investment in renovation instead of significant expense and time waiting for new construction,” said Committee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen (D) slammed Republicans on the committee for passing the plan, saying they did so with “few details, no completed security plan, and an incomplete cost assessment for a new FBI Headquarters located in DC.”
Senator Van Hollen also noted that Greenbelt was selected through a “decades-long thorough, transparent, and competitive selection process.”
The State of Maryland is also planning to sue the administration over the decision.
Colorado Sues Over U.S. Space Command HQ
Meanwhile, the State of Colorado sued the Trump Administration over its decision to move U.S. Space Command Headquarters (SPACECOM) from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) says the decision was politically motivated and unconstitutional.
“(President Trump) said Colorado’s mail-in voting system was a ‘big factor’ in his decision making. The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to punish or retaliate against states for lawfully exercising powers reserved for them, such as the power to regulate elections,” said Attorney General Weiser.
The attorney general is seeking a court order prohibiting the Trump administration from following through on moving SPACECOM’s permanent headquarters, which former President Joe Biden declared should be in Colorado in 2023.
Huntsville is home to the Redstone Army Airfield and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The Space and Missile Defense Command of the Army is also located there and Huntsville was the selected location in President Trump’s first term.
At a September White House event announcing the headquarters decision, the president said, "The problem I have with Colorado, one of the big problems, they do mail-in voting... So that played a big factor also."