Republicans remove funding for new FBI headquarters following Trump conviction

On June 5, a subcommittee of the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee voted for a government spending bill that excluded a proposal to fund a new headquarters building for the FBI in Maryland.

The existing FBI headquarters, located in the J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, D.C., has been in a state of disrepair for decades. A 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office noted that as far back as 2001, an engineering consultant had assessed the facility and “concluded the building was in poor condition.” The report also noted that continuing problems with the facility have negatively affected the security of FBI personnel.

In 2023, the General Services Administration, the agency that manages property for the federal government, selected a site in Greenbelt, Maryland, for a new FBI building. As part of President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2025 budget, the agency proposed a $3.5 billion allocation for construction of the new site.

The Republican members of the Financial Services and General Government subcommittee approved legislation that omitted the requested funding for the agency, while Democratic members voted to include the spending. The committee is chaired by Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio and Michigan Rep. John Moolenaar, a Republican, is a member.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who leads the minority as the ranking member of the committee, criticized the decision and other proposed cuts in his opening statement during the meeting.

“My friends across the aisle claim their party stands for law and order. I think they really do, however, this bill under sources the agencies responsible for enforcing the law from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence — both cut,” Hoyer said.

The legislation will now move on to be considered by the full committee for a vote.

The committee’s decision comes after a wave of Republican backlash to the May 30 criminal conviction of former President Donald Trump in New York City. A jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an attempt to hide hush money payments to cover up an alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Longtime Trump ally and supporter Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter on June 3 to Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Tom Cole in which he recommended cuts in funding to the FBI.

“We recommend that the Appropriations Committee include language to eliminate any funding for the FBI that is not essential for the agency to execute its mission, including rescinding prior appropriations and prohibiting new taxpayer funding for any new FBI headquarters facility,” Jordan said in the document.

The FBI is a part of the Department of Justice, which indicted Trump in 2023 on charges connected with efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

At a campaign event on June 3, Biden criticized Republicans for criticizing the jury’s verdict and Trump’s trial.“Look, folks, this campaign has entered uncharted territory. Last week, for the first time in American history, a former President is convicted — a convicted felon. He’s now seeking the office of the presidency,” Biden said, according to a White House transcript. “But as disturbing as that is, more demanding, more damaging is the all-out assault Donald Trump is making on the American system of justice. An all-out assault is being supported by the Republican Party — the MAGA Party.”