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By OLIVER MACK
Local and congressional leaders are pushing back against the FBI’s decision not to relocate its headquarters to Greenbelt.
The FBI announced on July 1 that it would move its headquarters from the Hoover Building to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in the District instead of to a Greenbelt site chosen by the General Services Administration in 2023.
The announcement led to frustration among local leaders who had advocated for the Greenbelt site for nearly a decade.
“[The FBI announcement is] not a huge surprise, but at the same time, it’s kind of still a punch in the gut,” Michael Williams, College Park’s director of economic development, said. “If we could be home to the FBI, it would really have been a big, big feather in our cap.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore had estimated in 2023 that relocating the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt would generate 7,500 local jobs and more than $4 billion in economic activity.
The decision to keep the FBI in the District might not be final, however.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on July 10 voted to block funding for relocating the FBI unless the move is to the planned Greenbelt site near the Metro station.
The vote was on an amendment to a bill that would fund the U.S. Department of Justice for the next fiscal year. Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, introduced the measure, which the committee passed 15-14 after Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski crossed party lines to vote in favor.
As a result, other Republican senators refused to support the full funding bill and the committee paused it without voting.
“I do think this is about much more than the FBI building,” Van Hollen said during the committee hearing. “I do think this is a fundamental question about whether this committee is going to surrender its prerogatives and powers to the executive branch, whoever may be president at the time.”
Greenbelt Mayor Emmett Jordan agreed.
“There’s just so many things, so many daunting, sudden, unpredictable decisions coming out of the current administration,” Jordan said. “It’s a very challenging time for Greenbelt.”
A Greenbelt-based FBI would spur economic growth and attract new residents to the area beyond Greenbelt, College Park Mayor Fazlul Kabir said. The closest single-family residential neighborhood to the Greenbelt Metro station is in College Park, he added.
“We are really hoping that if the FBI comes in, then this will be an opportunity for College Park and also the surrounding areas, like the city of Greenbelt and the town of Berwyn Heights and others, to have an opportunity for economic growth and revitalization of our commercial districts and community places,” Kabir said.
Williams said the move to Greenbelt would have been a “shot in the arm” for College Park’s economy, boosting tourism, restaurant patronage, and the university’s research capacity and significance.
Williams said the presence of FBI workers so close to College Park would result in a “sorely needed” boost to the city’s housing economy.
Likewise, Jordan said the move would attract and enhance retailers and fill empty office space in Greenbelt. A walking and biking path connecting one of Greenbelt’s townhouse communities to the Greenbelt Metro station has been put on hold because its funding was linked to construction of the FBI campus.
Some Greenbelt residents are frustrated, not only over the FBI’s decision but also because of the layoffs of federal workers, Jordan said. More than 15% of Greenbelt residents work for the federal government and another 10% to 15% are federal contractors. College Park is home to approximately 1,100 federal workers, not including contractors, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“We stand with our federal, state and county delegation in our shock at this announcement,” Jordan said. “We have missed opportunities, or things that we’re trying to do, that we’ve tried to do, that have been on hold, and it’s ridiculous, this back and forth, back and forth. It’s a waste of taxpayer money.”