By Steve Neavling
Officials in Virginia and Maryland are squaring off in a last-minute effort to convince federal authorities to build a new FBI headquarters in their respective states.
In the December federal spending bill, the General Services Administration was given the green light to approve a location for the new headquarters in Virginia or Maryland.
Each state was given 90 days to make their final pitches.
The potential locations are Prince George’s County in Virginia and Landover and Greenbelt in Maryland.
GSA will decide on the final locations using five criteria: Serving the FBI mission, including proximity to the FBI Academy in Quantico and the Justice Department; transportation access; development flexibility; promoting racial equity and sustainable siting; and cost to acquire and prepare the site, The Washington Post reports.
The FBI has been searching for a new headquarters for years, but funding problems and the Trump administration delayed the project. Trump had called for the headquarters, which is a stone’s throw from his Washington D.C. hotel, to be built downtown, rather than in the suburbs.
The current headquarters is cramped and outdated, the FBI says.
