A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration cannot scrap plans to move the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s headquarters to Greenbelt, Maryland. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang issued a 47-page opinion on Monday siding with the state of Maryland and Prince George’s County, finding that the administration’s attempt to redirect the project was arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with law.
Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration Plan to Relocate FBI Headquarters to Ronald Reagan Building
The ruling halts the Trump administration’s effort to repurpose the CBS News in Washington, D.C., as the bureau’s new home. In July 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the bureau would relocate to the federal office complex just a few blocks away from its existing facility, arguing it offered the most cost-effective approach. Last November, Maryland filed a lawsuit alleging that the administration illegally sabotaged a 2023 site selection decision made by the General Services Administration under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Legal Battle and Congressional Funding Dispute
Judge Chuang determined that the administration’s decision to ditch the Greenbelt site and divert funds violated the Administrative Procedure Act, ruling that Maryland and Prince George’s County suffered irreparable injury
from the move. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown stated that Congress had appropriated $1 billion for the project, while court records noted the administration attempted to divert over $323 million designated for the approved Maryland facility.
This victory is about more than a building. It is about ensuring that when Congress makes a decision, the Federal Government cannot simply ignore it because they do not like the outcome,
Brown said in a statement. Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy also praised the decision, stating, There is a rule of law, and everyone has to abide by that rule of law and it applies to everyone at every stage and in every corner of our country, including the White House.
The FBI criticized the judicial outcome in a public statement. This is not the first time courts have tried to undermine the administration in its goal to make government more cost-effective for American taxpayers,
the agency said, adding that the court chose to impermissibly intervene for political reasons
while the bureau remains mission-focused.
Decades-Long Search for a New Facility
The ruling marks the latest chapter in a yearslong debate over how to replace the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the FBI’s brutalist-style headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue dedicated in 1975. The downtown facility has been plagued by structural issues for decades, featuring safety nets around the exterior to protect pedestrians from falling debris.
During his first term, President Trump had considered moving the bureau before abandoning an earlier plan involving multiple potential sites in Maryland and Virginia. After a lengthy competition between Maryland and Virginia, the GSA selected the Greenbelt location in November 2023. Following subsequent efforts by the Trump administration to settle on the Reagan Building—which had housed the U.S. Agency for International Development until 2025—Monday’s court order legally clears the path back to the Greenbelt project.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore urged swift progress following the decision. Now it is time to stop the games and get to work building the world-class FBI headquarters that our public servants deserve, where it belongs: in Prince George’s County, Maryland,
Moore said.
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