Sen. Warner on today’s GSA IG Report on FBI headquarters

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) today released the following statement on today’s GSA Inspector General’s report on the FBI headquarters decision.

“The IG’s findings are extremely troubling. The IG report reinforces the concerns that I have had since the Trump Administration halted the consolidated FBI headquarters procurement process. It highlights problems – both procedural and financial – that have resulted from Trump’s impulsive decision to halt a process that was years in the making. It is clear that the Administration’s flawed approach has failed, and that our law enforcement and intelligence workforce would be best served by returning to plans to build a consolidated headquarters building.”

Sens. Warner and Tim Kaine have for years worked with the Maryland Senators as well as the bipartisan Virginia delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives to secure funding for a new FBI headquarters to replace the current, deteriorating J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, which was built in 1974. In 2014, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced that a site in Springfield, Va. was one of three finalists for a consolidated HQ that would house all 11,000 area FBI employees, who are currently scattered across multiple sites in D.C., Virginia and Maryland. However, in July 2017, the Trump Administration abruptly backed away from more than five years of government preparations to relocate the FBI HQ, announcing instead in February 2018 plans to demolish the existing FBI headquarters in Washington and build a new facility in its place. The GSA has estimated that this new plan would cost $3.3 billion – including $1.9 billion in construction costs, added to the cost of temporarily relocating thousands of FBI employees while the existing structure is demolished and a new building constructed in its place.