By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday raised hopes that the FBI may get a new headquarters after all.
The committee’s new plan would require the FBI to develop a plan within 30 days of the bill’s passage to relocate the FBI headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the Washington Post reports.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said he wants the FBI to replace his aging, cramped headquarters
“What they’ve said is they’re not going to proceed with the old procurement process,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “They have not indicated that they’re opposed to consolation. In fact we believe they’ll be supportive of moving forward with FBI consolidation.”
The Post reports:
If adopted and passed through a final budget package, the language would redirect the FBI to not only come up with a consolidation plan, but also justify the cancellation, detail the scope and cost for keeping the current headquarters operational until a move and explain how the fiscal year 2017 money will be spent.
The House Appropriations Committee recently adopted similar language based on a proposal from Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) that would give the GSA 60 days from the bill’s passage to develop an alternative plan for consolidation.
The earlier plan would have awarded the winning bidder a chance to redevelop the Hoover site downtown and helped the government foot the bill for the new project.
