Moving the headquarters of the FBI to Greenbelt, may take a little longer.
As November came to an end it was announced a federal watchdog is investigating how the Biden administration chose a site for a new FBI headquarters.
November started with Maryland leaders started with word the headquarters would be moving to Greenbelt.
Now, Virginia leaders want the move paused, while the investigation, which they requested, happens. The message from Virginia lawmakers can be read in full here.
It reads, in part, "The effort to relocate the FBI spans years of work and multiple presidential administrations. For months, the lawmakers have been making the case that Virginia is the best home for the FBI in part because of its diverse and developed workforce, proximity to critical national security facilities, and easy access to transit. Last month, after a flawed selection process that included last-minute changes to the selection criteria and allegations of political interference, a political appointee overruled the unanimous recommendation of a three-person panel of career experts and selected Greenbelt, Maryland as the site for the new FBI headquarters."
Members of Maryland's leadership, including Governor Wes Moore, Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, David Trone, and Glenn Ivey, and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks released the following statement regarding the Virginia Delegation's letter to OMB, their latest attempt to delay the process:
“In 2022, both the Virginia Delegation, as well as the Maryland Delegation, agreed that the GSA ought to make this site selection decision ‘expeditiously,’ to ensure the hardworking men and women of the FBI would have a headquarters that would meet their vital national security mission.
Now, the Virginia Delegation believes that the process should only move expeditiously if that decision benefits Virginia. As we have said before, we remain confident that any Inspector General evaluation will find what we know to be true: the Greenbelt site won on the merits. After assessing the facts, the GSA determined that Greenbelt offers the lowest price and best value to taxpayers, the shortest proximity to public transportation, the most schedule certainty to ensure the FBI can move to a new headquarters that meets its mission and security needs as soon as possible, and the greatest opportunity to advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s equity goals.
These processes can move in tandem and ought to – our national security and the men and women of the FBI deserve no less. The Inspector General evaluation has no bearing on the preparation of a prospectus for the new headquarters; therefore, the only thing the delay requested by the Virginia Delegation would accomplish is to subject the FBI employees and the general public to a dangerous, unhealthy environment and substantially increase the cost to the taxpayer.”