Maryland just took the Trump administration to court over a shocking FBI headquarters reversal

Maryland has decided to sue the FBI because the agency broke its promise to build a new headquarters in Greenbelt. The FBI said it will use a building that already exists in downtown Washington, D.C. instead, which made Maryland upset enough to take legal action.

According to The Hill, the state says the Trump administration went against what Congress wanted and moved $555 million to a different project without permission. The FBI spent years picking between different locations and chose Greenbelt in 2023. But then in July 2025, the FBI and the General Services Administration suddenly said they would use the Ronald Reagan Building instead. This building had extra room after the U.S. Agency for International Development shut down.

Maryland believes this shocking FBI headquarters reversal breaks the rules that Congress set. The state filed papers saying Congress gave extra money specifically for building in Greenbelt after it won the competition. “These actions flouted Congress’s explicit direction to choose a site from the three specified sites, as well as other specific statutory directives concerning the selection of the site and the use of the funds,” the lawsuit says.

This isn’t just about a building location

The FBI needs to move out of where it works now at the J. Edgar Hoover Building in D.C. because the place is falling apart. Workers even put up nets to catch pieces of the outside walls that keep breaking off so they don’t hurt people walking on the street.

Two Maryland senators, Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, released a statement saying “The Trump Administration has no grounds to ignore this selection, or redirect even one penny that Congress specifically appropriated for construction of the competitively selected site.”

They also complained that officials are “refusing to answer basic questions around the costs to taxpayers and security of the new site, or provide additional details on their plans.” The Trump administration has faced other recent controversies involving federal agencies and congressional oversight.

Maryland also says the Reagan Building has plenty of issues on its own. Reports from before showed it needs $95 million to fix the fire safety system and $38 million to “repair of multiple cylindrical drum leaks at the building’s core.” Maryland has been in the news recently for other issues affecting its residents as well. The state thinks the building would need major work to make it safe enough for the FBI.

Three different places competed to get the new FBI headquarters, which meant Maryland and Virginia were fighting against each other.

Virginia says the whole selection process had problems and wanted everything to stop after the Office of Inspector General agreed to look into it. The previous FBI Director Christopher Wray had brought up “concerns about fairness and transparency in the process” and said the GSA had a “failure to adhere to its own site selection plan.”

The current FBI Director Kash Patel explained the choice when he told everyone about it in July. He said “Moving to the Ronald Reagan Building is the most cost effective and resource efficient way to carry out our mission to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution.”

He thinks using a building that’s already there makes more sense than spending money to construct something brand new. The FBI didn’t say anything when asked about the lawsuit, and the GSA also refused to comment.