The US Senate has stripped language from a spending bill that would have limited how the federal government could spend funds already set aside for a new FBI headquarters — a setback for Maryland leaders working to prevent the president from reversing the General Services Administration’s decision to relocate the agency to Prince George’s County.
Maryland US Senator Chris Van Hollen secured the provision last week with bipartisan support from the Senate Appropriations Committee. The amendment did not mandate a headquarters location; it restricted the use of construction funds to Prince George’s County.
In effect, it would have reinforced the GSA’s 2023 site selection and blocked the administration from shifting the project to another federal building in Washington, DC.
Before the full committee vote, however, subcommittee leadership removed the provision behind closed doors, clearing the way for the package to advance without forcing a direct debate over the headquarters decision. The committee then approved the bill without the amendment.
“Last week, the Appropriations Committee passed my amendment on a bipartisan basis to prohibit the administration from using these funds for any purpose other than the relocation of the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt, Maryland,” said Senator Van Hollen. “But instead of moving forward on our legislation, the majority chose to grind our entire CJS bill to a halt until that bipartisan effort could be undone.”
As previously reported on Conduit Street, federal officials have recently confirmed that the FBI will remain in Washington, DC, claiming they can save money by avoiding new construction, despite having previously determined that the Prince George’s site offered the best value for the money.
In 2023, the General Services Administration selected Prince George’s County as the site for the new FBI headquarters, following a years-long site selection process and evaluation of multiple locations in the region.
At the time, a GSA spokesperson said in a statement, “GSA determined Greenbelt to be the best site because it was the lowest cost to taxpayers, provided the greatest transportation access to FBI employees and visitors, and gave the government the most certainty on project delivery schedule.”
Relocating the FBI to Prince George’s County would generate an estimated 7,500 direct jobs, billions in economic activity, and serve as an anchor for future transit-oriented development. It is also an opportunity to fulfill long-standing federal equity goals by investing meaningfully in a historically underrepresented area.
Stay tuned to Conduit Street for more information.
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