The FBI’s choice of a new headquarters raises questions

The decision by the Biden administration to move the F.B.I The national headquarters from downtown Washington DC to Greenbelt, Maryland, has raised questions about the selection process, “political pressure” and planning hurdles.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal buildings, announced it had chosen the site, a suburb of the capital about 13 miles from downtown, on Wednesday, drawing praise from lawmakers in Maryland and the disapproval of Virginia legislators, both of whom had been competing for several years for the lucrative contract.

In a statement provided to the Associated Press, GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said the agency “looks forward to building a state-of-the-art central campus for the FBI in Greenbelt to advance its critical mission during the coming years”.

He added that the new $3.5 billion facility at Greenbelt would cost less to build, provide the best transport links and had the most certainty about the delivery schedule.

Discussions about a new site to replace the J. Edgar Hoover Building on Pennsylvania Avenue have been ongoing for years, after the brutalist building, completed in 1977 and named after the oldest director of the ‘agency, was considered unsuitable for continued use and too expensive to repair.

A recent GSA analysis said the Hoover Building “can no longer support the FBI’s long-term mission,” was “nearing the end of its useful life, and structural problems continue to mount, making the current building is unsustainable”.

In addition to the Greenbelt site, two other potential sites were selected for consideration before making the final decision: Landover Mall, also in Maryland and east of the DC city limits, as well as Springfield, Virginia, in west of Alexandria. .

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the members of congress representing Maryland and Gov. Wes Moore, said the Greenbelt site was “best suited to serve the present and future FBI and the dedicated public servants who work tirelessly to protect America.”

“GSA’s analysis of the facts and its inquiries revealed that the Greenbelt site is the most suitable site of the three final candidates when all factors were considered together,” they added.

However, stakeholders have already raised several concerns about the choice.

Both of us The Washington Post, which first reported on the decision, as well as AP, reported that the FBI had expressed concerns about the selection process, but that agency sources had not disclosed what those concerns were. FBI leadership has previously expressed a desire to remain in the capital because of its proximity to the capital Department of Justice.

Newsweek The FBI and GSA were approached by email for comment Thursday.

Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaineboth of us Democratsissued a statement expressing disappointment that his state’s site was not chosen, “despite the clear case that Virginia is the best home for the FBI.”

They claimed that the FBI’s criteria for the project were changed at the last minute due to “political pressure,” without disclosing where that pressure came from, and accused the Biden administration of allowing “politics pollutes the selection process.”

The Virginia leadership previously argued that the Springfield site would put the FBI headquarters closer to its Quantico training academy and place it in an ethnically diverse neighborhood, which Greenbelt also has.

Gerry Connolly, a Democratic congressman from Virginia, also claimed that the GSA had “shamelessly caved in to political pressure” and said the agency’s reputation had taken a “moral hit”.

In the meantime, The News from New York reported that the proposal could still have zoning issues. The land is owned by the state of Maryland and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and is near a subway station, while the Springfield site would have sat on land owned by GSA and is close to another subway station.