FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the agency is relocating from its current headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building in Washington, D.C., citing concerns over its safety for the agency’s employees.
Patel emphasized the need to provide a building that is commensurate with the status of the premier law enforcement agency in the world, suggesting that the current headquarters does not meet this standard.
The big picture: The Hoover building has housed the FBI since 1974, and with a fully staffed workforce of 38,000 employees, Patel highlighted that about 11,000, or a third of the actual workforce, are within a 50-mile radius of Washington, D.C., despite a third of the crime not occurring in that area.
- As part of the relocation, Patel disclosed plans to move approximately 1,500 employees out of Washington, D.C. to various field offices across the country. Every state is expected to receive a “plus-up,” although specific details were not provided by the director.
- Patel expressed the belief that by distributing FBI personnel to different locations, more Americans would feel inspired to pursue career opportunities as agents and intelligence analysts, particularly in the fight against violent crime.
Go deeper: In February, Patel informed senior FBI officials of his intention to relocate up to 1,000 employees from Washington, D.C. to field offices nationwide, and an additional 500 workers to a facility in Alabama.
- The agency issued a statement mentioning Patel’s commitment to stationing FBI agents in communities dedicated to combating violent crime, and the directive for FBI leadership to implement a plan to actualize this commitment.
- Former President Trump previously halted a plan to move the FBI’s headquarters to Maryland, proposing to replace the Hoover building with “another big FBI building” to facilitate the proximity of the FBI and the Department of Justice.
