The vision of an FBI headquarters here in Greenbelt became more concrete this month when upfront funding for the project was included in the Presidential Budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, which begins October 1, 2024. This is a significant indicator that the administration plans to move forward with construction, even while the review of the site selection by the Inspector General is ongoing and Virginia officials continue to cry foul.
Fraught History
On November 8, 2023, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the selection of Greenbelt as the future home for the FBI headquarters, a search that began in 2009 (see the November 16, 2023, issue). On November 30, 2023, the Office of the Inspector General of the GSA, the body’s watchdog, announced it would review the selection process and the allegations of foul play from Virginia lawmakers, who had wanted Springfield to be the selected site (see the December 7, 2023, issue). That probe is ongoing. Thus, the allocation of money in the Presidential Budget for construction to commence in
Greenbelt in FY 2025 appears to be a motion toward confirmation of the Greenbelt site. In December 2023 former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump called for the headquarters to remain in the capital. (Trump’s personal involvement in meetings and his influence upon site selection was the subject of a previous investigation by the Department of Justice Inspector General, which determined there was no evidence of undue influence upon the FBI Director Christopher Wray.)
Planning for Construction
The overview included within the FY 2025 Budget Request notes that the FBI has occupied the J. Edgar Hoover (JEH) building since 1974, and that its infrastructure has deteriorated. “The Administration recognizes the critical need for a new FBI headquarters and has begun a multi-year process of constructing a modern, secure facility from which the FBI can continue its mission to protect the American people,” it reads. The Greenbelt site is planned to serve at least 7,500 FBI personnel.
“The FBI identified serious concerns with the site selection process, and Congress and the GSA Office of Inspector General are conducting independent reviews of the process. While these reviews take place, the FBI and GSA are engaged in construction planning efforts,” states the
Budget Request Summary.
Up-front Funding
The funds for the project are slated to come from the Federal Capital Revolving Fund (FCRF), which is intended “to fully fund the costs of very large civilian real property capital projects that are difficult to accommodate in the annual appropriations process.” Thus the $3.5 billion allocation will fund the total project upfront, to be “repaid” using annual discretionary appropriations over 15 years, states the summary. “For the FBI suburban headquarters campus, the Budget proposes a $3.5 billion allocation from the FCRF,” it says, “to be repaid by the Federal Buildings Fund in 15 annual amounts of $233 million. The FCRF funding would be paired with $645 million in GSA prior year appropriations to support the acquisition and construction of the FBI’s new suburban headquarters campus.”
Additional New D.C. Site
The Budget Summary for the FBI also states that they will attempt to identify a downtown D.C. site for 750 to 1,000 personnel to be close to the Department of Justice and other law enforcement and government partners in the capital.