Maryland leaders announce the state and Prince George’s County will be filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to block a planned FBI headquarters project in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The current FBI headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover Building in DC has been in dire need of repairs, and almost two years ago exactly, the federal government announced Greenbelt as the winning location for a new state-of-the-art facility after almost a decade of considerations.
“We played by the rules. We won the project fairly, and we will not let this administration steal jobs and opportunities from Prince George's County and Maryland,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit Thursday.
President Donald Trump said in March he was not going to let the move happen, calling Maryland a “liberal state” and arguing the FBI headquarters should be in close proximity to the U.S. Department of Justice located within the nation’s capital.
In July, the Trump administration announced it would move the current headquarters to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center within DC.
In the latest part of the saga, last week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — on a party-line vote — approved using funding previously allocated for the construction of a new FBI headquarters to instead be used on the Reagan Building renovation.
Committee member and Maryland U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks raised various concerns about the Reagan Building’s ability to safely house federal agents.
“The building is constructed directly above an active metro station and includes a publicly accessible parking garage, both of which present heightened vulnerabilities,” Alsobrooks said. “The administration hopes that the existing funding will be sufficient to retrofit the Reagan Building, but we actually don’t know how much the project will cost.”
Maryland U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen also expressed disappointment over the reallocation, arguing the Reagan Building cannot meet required security standards.
The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal buildings, reports the Reagan Building renovation will cost $1.4 billion, but Brown argues that funding was already Congressionally approved to go toward the Greenbelt project.
“When Congress passes a law and appropriates money for a specific purpose, the executive branch doesn't just ignore it because they don't like the outcome,” Brown said.
The funding must also be approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Congressional appropriations panels must give the go-ahead to reappropriate the funding from the new construction project to the Reagan Building renovation.
The state already earmarked $250 million for the project, and Prince Geroge’s County pledged $100 million of its own, which Gov. Wes Moore says backs the state’s position that the Trump administration is violating previous financial commitments.
“The president's plan is not just illegal. Frankly, it just lacks common sense, and his foolishness will put our public servants in jeopardy,” Gov. Moore said.
The lawsuit also alleges moving to the Reagan Building violates a Congressional directive to GSA, mandating a location be chosen from three sites — two in Maryland and one in Virginia.
If the project in Greenbelt is restored, it would be the largest single economic development project in the history of Prince George's County, estimated to create over 7,500 jobs and add over $4 billion in economic activity to the state.
