'Team Maryland' Officials Lobby To Bring FBI Headquarters To Prince George's County

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and other leaders gathered Wednesday at Rawlins Park to push for Prince George's County as the best location for the proposed new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters.

The current FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., opened in June 1974.

Lawmakers met before a news conference to discuss relocating the FBI from downtown D.C., to two possible sites in Prince George's: Landover or Greenbelt. Maryland officials tout the county as the perfect place to invest in construction and federal jobs since it has a majority Black population.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2021 that made advancing racial equity through federal agencies a priority and Maryland leaders cite that as the impetus behind why officials should choose their state.

"We stand unified as one team, Team Maryland, representing various areas and making a very important pitch ... here we know we're talking about a legacy-defining choice," Moore said at the news conference.

The Greenbelt site offers 61 acres with access to the Greenbelt Metro, walking and biking trails, and nearby homes. The Landover site features 80 acres at the site of the former Landover Mall, which is close to FedExField and along the Metro Blue Line Corridor.

Last month, Virginia leaders pitched relocating FBI headquarters to a site in Springfield where an existing facility could be converted for both the FBI and the GSA, and has access to the Metro and railway with the Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency, Quantico FBI training academy and Transportation Security Administration headquarters located nearby.

• Related: Youngkin, VA Officials Push For FBI Headquarters In Springfield

The General Services Administration has said officials will select the new FBI headquarters location based on five criteria:

• 35 percent serving the FBI mission, including proximity to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and the U.S. Justice Department.
• 25 transportation access.
• 15 percent development flexibility.
• 15 percent promotes racial equity and sustainable siting.
• 10 percent cost to acquire and prepare the site.

Moore emphasized in an essay published in The Washington Post March 7 that Maryland is the "best possible home" for a new consolidated FBI headquarters.

"As home to Fort Meade, U.S. Cyber Command, the National Security Agency and other top-tier institutions such as the University of Maryland, our state has the brainpower and bandwidth to support efforts at the FBI to ramp up the fight against cybercrime and bolster cyberdefense. The two Maryland sites under consideration are near key FBI facilities that could support the work happening in a consolidated headquarters," Moore wrote.

He noted that Maryland is "one of the most diverse, well-educated and service-driven states in the country. If the FBI provides the headquarters, the people of our state would provide the workforce. And because both Maryland sites sit along key transit corridors, the FBI could broaden its reach and recruit top talent from across the region."

Moore pointed out that relocating the FBI to Maryland would match Biden's mission for racial equity.

"Both Maryland sites are in Prince George’s, a majority-Black suburban county that has long been overlooked despite sitting just outside our nation’s capital," Moore wrote.

Bringing the FBI offices to Maryland would also bring jobs to the area. Prince George's ranks No. 107 in economic mobility, while Fairfax County Virginia ranks No. 2, Moore pointed out.

"Biden and I are both committed to lifting Black communities and closing the racial wealth gap, and moving the FBI to our state would help us do exactly that," Moore said. "This move isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s also the responsible thing to do. The two Maryland sites are build-ready right now; the Virginia site isn’t. That means bringing the FBI to Maryland will save the federal government time and money. The state of Maryland has also committed to contributing more than $200 million to the project, bringing down the overall cost to the federal government. I want the best deal for the American taxpayer, and the two Maryland sites offer the biggest bang for the buck."

The proposed site in Springfield, Virginia, would be located at a GSA warehouse complex on Loisdale Road, which connects with Franconia Road to the north and Fairfax County Parkway to the south. The proposed site is located adjacent to the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station.