The federal government will announce the cessation of searches for a new FBI headquarters. This project has been developing for more than ten years. Executives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation wanted to find a new central office to get away from the J. Edgar Hoover Building that is in a dire situation.
The Agency Needed a New FBI Headquarters for Safety and Security Concerns
This decision appears three years since the General Services Administration selected three relocations for the federal agency in the suburbs of Washington DC. Each of these campuses presented the necessary facilities to be turned into the home for FBI’s 11,000 employees.
At the moment, half of FBI staff is scattered across other locations while the others still dwell under the roof of J. Edgar Hoover Building on Pennsylvania Avenue. With each relocated employee, the agency has to cover additional expenses that add up to the financial collateral damages of not being able to get approval for a new FBI headquarters. On top of that, employees find it harder to collaborate on their objectives as efficiently as before under these current circumstances.
The federal agency did not desire relocation for the only purpose of a safe office, but it also aimed at an upgraded security. The plans showed improvements of facilities to resemble those from the Pentagon or the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency. Moreover, the new office would have had a secure perimeter to impair the public from entering the building. At this moment, any tourist can visit the old headquarters who becomes a liability for the agency.
The FBI Agency Lost Its Leader in May
However, the relocation project has already cost a total of $2 billion without having a clear finality. Due to these budget holes, members of the Congress started to oppose this program. Tensions between Trump and FBI might have deepened the hardship of finding a new location. The head of FBI, James B. Comey, was fired in May due to allegations that linked Trump to suspicious Russian projects.
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