U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ruled on Monday that the Trump administration cannot proceed with a plan to relocate the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters to the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. The judge found that the administration’s attempt to cancel a prior move to Greenbelt, Maryland, and divert its funding was "arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with law."
The decision follows a long-standing effort to replace the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which has served as the FBI's headquarters since 1975 but has faced structural issues for two decades. The General Services Administration (GSA), the agency that manages federal real estate, had selected the Maryland site during the Biden administration. However, in July 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel announced a shift to the Reagan Building, citing cost-effectiveness.
Maryland filed a lawsuit in November against Patel and the FBI, alleging that the administration illegally diverted more than $323 million in funds that Congress had specifically designated for the Maryland project. The Reagan Building had recently become available after the Trump administration consolidated the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) into the State Department and transferred the lease to Customs and Border Protection.
The scale of the dispute involves $323 million in federal funding that Congress authorized for the Maryland location. For the FBI's workforce, the ruling means their day-to-day workplace will not move to the Reagan Building, a site Director Patel claimed was the most resource-efficient option. Instead, the legal victory for Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown aims to restore the plan to move the agency to a new suburban campus. If the Maryland plan proceeds, the local economy would see the impact of thousands of employees moving to Greenbelt, affecting local businesses and infrastructure.
The ruling sets a precedent regarding the executive branch's ability to redirect funds that Congress has earmarked for specific infrastructure projects. It reinforces the requirement that agency reversals of previously established plans must meet legal standards of rationality. While Judge Chuang has blocked the Reagan Building plan, the FBI has not yet issued a comment on whether it will appeal. The next steps will depend on the administration's legal response and the subsequent timeline for developing the Greenbelt site.