Van Hollen says fight to bring FBI to Maryland isn’t over
Congress reaches deal to keep FBI headquarters in DC
It appears the FBI headquarters will stay in Washington, D.C. The reversal came into Congress Thursday, essentially nixing the plan to move it to Maryland. But Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen says this fight is far from over.
WASHINGTON - It appears the FBI headquarters will stay in Washington, D.C.
The reversal came into Congress Thursday — essentially nixing the plan to move it to Maryland.
But Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen says this fight is far from over.
Big picture view:
The back and forth has been going on for more than a decade now — with hopes and plans that the new FBI headquarters would be in Greenbelt.
But on July 1, the Trump administration said it would instead be at the Reagan Building in downtown D.C.
"I want to underscore the fact that my original amendment with respect to the funds that had been set aside to build the FBI at a site that was selected was not just about Maryland and Van Hollen — this was actually a bipartisan process over many years," said Van Hollen.
Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed Sen. Van Hollen’s amendment to stop the Trump administration from using the funds for anything other than relocating the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt, Maryland — a site chosen by the General Services Administration back in 2023.
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted for the amendment — initially causing a snag in the spending bill.
On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 15 to 14 to remove Van Hollen’s amendment — a move senators say was unprecedented.
Dig deeper:
The move came after Murkowski reportedly spent an hour talking with FBI Director Kash Patel.
"It was certainly not my intention to be purposely disruptive, but it was my intention to try to discern a little more information about how we arrived to the decision within this CJS bill with regards to the Ronald Reagan Building," said Murkowski.
What's next:
A timeline to move hundreds of FBI employees into the Reagan Building hasn’t been made clear yet — but currently this complex houses Customs and Border Protection, along with the EPA.