Virginia Legislators Criticize FBI Relocation to Maryland

Virginia lawmakers heavily criticized the Biden administration on Thursday for selecting Greenbelt, Maryland as the location for the new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters, instead of Virginia.

Following an extended process, officials picked Greenbelt, Maryland over two other locations, Landover, Maryland, and Springfield, Virginia. The current FBI headquarters is located in Washington, D.C.

Congress members from the Virginia delegation, including Democrat Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, expressed their “deep disappointment” and characterized the decision as “tainted.”

“It’s especially disappointing that the FBI’s initial criteria for this decision, developed independently by the GSA (General Services Administration) and affirmed by Congress just last year, were changed at the 11th hour by the Administration following political pressure,” Kaine and Warner wrote.

“We spent years appropriately criticizing the last Administration for politicizing the new FBI headquarters – only for a new Administration to come in and allow politics to taint the selection process,” the pair added.

Most of Virginia’s representatives in the U.S. House also signed a statement, alongside Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, Kaine, and Warner, criticizing the move as having political interference.

They cited a recent internal memo by FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, obtained by The Associated Press, expressing concern over “potential conflict of interest” in the site selection.

Additionally, the group claimed that the administration overruled a “unanimous recommendation” by the GSA to place the new headquarters in Springfield, closer to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

“Any fair weighing of the criteria points to a selection of Virginia,” the delegation argued. “It is clear that this process has been irrevocably undermined and tainted, and this decision must now be reversed.”

GSA head Robin Carnahan defended the agency’s decision, claiming the Wray memo was inaccurate and that the choice of Greenbelt was “fully consistent with the decision-making process.”

Carnahan expressed disappointment in Wray for “making inaccurate claims directed at our agency, our employees, and our site selection plan and process.”