The FBI has chosen a suburb in Maryland as the location of its future headquarters, the General Services Administration confirmed.
The decision of where to relocate the FBI headquarters has been a heated contest among the two finalists: Virginia and Maryland. On Wednesday, the GSA, which manages federal properties, announced that Greenbelt, Maryland, had been chosen as the best destination.
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“GSA looks forward to building the FBI a state-of-the-art headquarters campus in Greenbelt to advance their critical mission for years to come," GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said in a statement. "Thank you to everyone at GSA, DOJ, FBI, Congress, and others who helped reach this important milestone after a comprehensive, multi-year effort."
A GSA spokeswoman elaborated on the decision to relocate the headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Greenbelt, saying it best met the criteria.
“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," the spokeswoman said in a statement. "It also provided the highest potential to advance sustainability and equity."
The relocation of the FBI headquarters sparked controversy in recent months when some congressional Republicans warned that they would block the construction of the new building in protest of the agency's mistreatment of conservatives.
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“The FBI has been targeting President Trump, his administration, people on his staff, and they continue to stay more focused on people that walked into the Capitol on Jan. 6 rather than local crime, and local crime is out of control," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said in August. "And so, no, I refuse to fund anything like that brand-new facility.”
Then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also pushed back against the idea, saying, “This idea that we’re going to build a new, big Pentagon and put all the FBI mainly in one place, I don’t think it’s a good structure.”