A federal judge on Monday placed a legal barrier in front of the Trump administration's plan to relocate the planned new FBI headquarters from the Greenbelt, Maryland site chosen in 2023 to the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang sided with a challenge brought by Maryland's attorney general and a county, concluding the administration had unlawfully abandoned the Greenbelt project and redirected money that Congress had approved for that specific site.
At the center of the decision is a set of congressional directives enacted in 2022 and 2023 that required the General Services Administration to limit its choice to one of three pre-approved sites located outside Washington. Chuang concluded the administration's later selection of the Ronald Reagan Building did not conform to those statutory constraints.
"Notably, the text provides no conditions under which the selection could be unilaterally rescinded or switched to a nonconforming site," Chuang wrote. The judge, an appointee of President Barack Obama, said that because the administration lacked the authority to select the Ronald Reagan Building, it also lacked authority to divert $555 million that Congress had approved to ready that site for the FBI headquarters.
The ruling therefore bars the administration from using the appropriated funds for the nonconforming location. The court's judgment focused on statutory text and the limits that congressional action placed on the General Services Administration's discretion.
The FBI did not immediately provide a response to a request for comment on the ruling.
Background and legal posture
The action reviewed by the court arose after the administration decided to rescind the earlier selection of the Greenbelt, Maryland site and to designate the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington as the intended new headquarters. Maryland's attorney general together with a county contested that change, arguing it violated requirements set by Congress. The court agreed with that challenge and enjoined the administration's change of plan and the associated reallocation of funds.
Scope of the decision
The decision turns on statutory language enacted in two separate congressional measures and on the limits those measures placed on the General Services Administration's authority to choose a site. Because the judge found the administration's selection of the Ronald Reagan Building did not comply with those statutory limits, the diversion of $555 million to prepare that site was also found unlawful.
The ruling leaves unresolved any administrative or political responses to the court's order beyond the immediate holding and reflects a judicial determination about the reach of congressional directives in this federal real estate decision.