SPRINGFIELD, Va. — Virginia lawmakers are making their final push to build a new FBI headquarters in their state, while Maryland officials try to persuade the federal government to put it in Maryland.
The Washington Post reports that the jockeying is happening as the General Services Administration gets closer to a decision in the decade-plus-long effort.
In a letter to the GSA and FBI, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, and most of the Virginia congressional delegation made a detailed case in hopes of swaying the federal government to prefer a site in Springfield, Virginia, instead of locations in Landover and Greenbelt in Maryland.
Virginia lawmakers also sought to compete more aggressively with Maryland on one component that Maryland has sought to elevate: that building the FBI in their community advances racial equity. FBI spokeswoman Sofia Kettler said in a statement that proximity to Quantico was included because the FBI Academy “is a core part of FBI day-to-day operations, today and in the future.”
The current headquarters in Washington has long concerned Congress, as the building has deteriorated.
The Maryland and Virginia consultations with the GSA are expected to begin the week of Feb. 27 or March 6.
