By Steve Neavling
Maryland’s efforts to land the new FBI headquarters received a major boost after the General Services Division announced new criteria for the campus.
Maryland and Virginia are competing for the bureau’s new home.
Under the new criteria, cost and social equity concerns are given more weight, while the proximity to the FBI Academy in Quantico in Virginia is given less weight, the Associated Press reports.
In a statement, Maryland officials, including Gov. Wes Moore, said the changed criteria “corrects the flawed approach released in September that ignored taxpayer costs and the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to equity.”
“Today’s revised guidelines are a critical step in the right direction,” the Maryland officials, including Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, said. “This update is in line with the language we secured in last year’s omnibus funding bill that both delegations supported.”
Maryland’s potential two sites are in Greenbelt and Landover, which the state’s officials said “provide the best operational and cost-effective options for the new, consolidated headquarters.”
“These sites meet and exceed the criteria laid out by GSA,” the officials said. “They are shovel-ready with exceptional access to transportation and will spur greater equity and opportunity, in line with the Biden-Harris Administration’s executive orders. We will continue working with GSA to ensure these factors are taken into consideration.”
Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Marker Warner weren’t happy with the criteria changes.
“The GSA didn’t pluck its initial criteria out of thin air — it spent years talking to experts and carefully deliberating on what is best for the mission of the FBI,” the senators said. “While we are concerned that these changes to the criteria will further delay what has already been a drawn-out, decade-long process to select a new site to replace the dilapidated headquarters downtown, we remain confident that Virginia continues to be a home run in every category, and encourage the GSA to draw this process to a close sooner rather than later.”
Under the new criteria, the GSA reduced the significance of the new headquarters’ proximity to other FBI facilities from 35% to 25%. It increased cost and social equity to 20% each.
Last week, Republican leaders said they were trying to move the headquarters to Huntsville, Ala., as part of their effort to punish the bureau since agents raided former President Trump’s residence in Florida.
The current headquarters, a brutalist, concrete building just blocks from the White House, is too cramped and out-of-date for it roughly 5,500 employees.
