Senator Alsobrooks Puts Republicans On Record For Ignoring FBI Security Concerns

October 29, 2025

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, at the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Business Meeting, Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) stood up to Republicans trying to jam through Committee a partisan resolution, breaking with years of precedent, for the relocation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters.

Senator Alsobrooks asked for unanimous consent to add a proviso to the resolution approving the General Services Administration (GSA) prospectus to ensure that no funds would be spent unless the Ronald Reagan Building could meet the highest security requirements. The proviso would have added the following language:

"None of the funds authorized by this resolution shall be obligated or expended until the Federal Bureau of Investigation and General Services Administration complete an in-depth assessment and determine that the Ronald Reagan Building is capable of meeting the Interagency Security Committee's level 5 requirements and provide that assessment to Congress."

Republicans rejected this request without addressing the grave security concerns that Senator Alsobrooks raised.

Senator Alsobrooks then successfully entered into the Committee record the FBI's 2013 testimony before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure stating that "the FBI Headquarters building should be housed in a facility meeting the highest level of protection as designated by the ISC."

Republicans have made it clear that they are deciding to ignore the security concerns laid out by the FBI and continue doing the President's bidding.

Senator Alsobrooks released the following statement:

"The FBI made it abundantly clear-at the start of this relocation process-that their headquarters should be housed in a facility that meets the highest level of protection as designated by the ISC. The location in Greenbelt, Maryland meets those requirements, as determined by a lengthy, fair, transparent process that Republicans have now overturned. In a disappointing display of loyalty to this lawless President, Republicans have decided that the FBI, our nation's primary federal law enforcement agency, does not warrant the highest level of security.

"Our national security should never be a partisan issue. This President, and his enablers in the Senate, are letting their own politics come before the real security needs of our law enforcement officers. And they do so knowingly, as evidenced by their unwillingness to address the real security concerns I laid out in today's Business Meeting.

"This fight is not over. The brave men and women who work at the FBI must be able to do their work without political interference and without compromising their safety and by extension, our national security. I will continue to work alongside all of Team Maryland in this pursuit."

WATCH SENATOR ALSOBROOKS AT THE EPW HEARING HERE

Senator Alsobrooks' EPW remarks as prepared can be found below:

Chair Capito and Ranking Member Whitehouse, thank you for the opportunity to speak about the Reagan Building prospectuses. I am very disappointed in the Committee's decision to proceed today, and I think it's important for me to share why.

In our first business meeting this year, we reported two pieces of bipartisan legislation unanimously. But in doing so, Ranking Member Whitehouse and Senator Markey raised concerns about the Administration's simultaneous actions to dismantle bipartisan laws through executive orders and funding freezes. This Committee has a well-earned reputation for working across the aisle, but it becomes very difficult to do so when we cannot count on each other to uphold our bipartisan agreements when we have the chance.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022-which became law because members reached a bipartisan agreement-required GSA to select the new location for the FBI's headquarters from one of three sites: two in Maryland and one in Virginia. The Reagan Building and DC were not eligible sites under this law. The Administration's decision to abandon years of planning and process is a clear violation of that law.

In addition to that, EPW has historically not reported GSA prospectuses on party-line votes-not during the last unified Democratic Government or in the last unified Republican government. In fact, I'm unaware of whether the Committee has ever acted in a partisan way on GSA prospectuses-given special deference to members whose states are implicated. I'm discouraged that we are breaking this long tradition today.

I was heavily involved in the selection of the Greenbelt site during my time as Prince George's County Executive. I can tell you from first-hand experience that choosing the new FBI headquarters was not an overnight decision. It was a lengthy, transparent, and highly collaborative process and one that involved over a decade of work between federal, state, and local partners. At every step, the goal was to ensure that the FBI would have a headquarters capable of supporting its national security mission, while being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.

In 2023, after years of deliberating, GSA completed its formal evaluation and selected Greenbelt, Maryland as this site best met the criteria Congress set: accessibility, cost efficiency, security, and mission suitability. GAO even examined this selection, and while GAO made recommendations for how future selection processes could be improved, nothing it its report negated the selection of Greenbelt-for ethics reasons or otherwise.

Now, I understand the concern some of you have raised about making better use of existing federal assets before expanding the federal footprint. That is a principle I fully support. However, the Reagan Building is not an underutilized federal property. While there is some vacancy in the building, that's only because of yet another illegal action by the Trump Administration-the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Despite this vacancy, the building currently houses the U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters, the Children's Museum and a number of private-sector tenants that generate revenue and serve the public. Displacing these tenants would require relocation arrangements and early termination payouts. Repurposing the Reagan Building to serve as the FBI headquarters would not be an example of good asset management; it would actually remove productive use.

Additionally, the Reagan Building's location and design are inconsistent with federal security standards for a law enforcement agency like the FBI. The building is constructed directly above an active metro station and includes a publicly accessible parking garage, both of which present heightened vulnerabilities. Some of my colleagues have argued that they support the Administration's decision because it would save federal dollars. The Administration hopes that the existing funding will be sufficient to retrofit the Reagan Building, but we actually don't know how much the project will cost. GSA and FBI have not done an in-depth assessment of how to address the security issues at this site.

The new site of the FBI headquarters should not be one based on politics. The law established a clear path. Congress provided funding and oversight. GSA made its selection. That selection remains the only legitimate choice.

Again, I am extremely disappointed today-disappointed that we'd abandon this Committee's bipartisan traditions on GSA prospectuses and disappointed that we are not upholding a bipartisan law in a bipartisan way. While it may not be today, I have to believe that the rule of law will matter again-it should matter to all of us. And I look forward to the day it does.

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