A new FBI headquarters in ALABAMA? Republicans Want to Remove Concrete Bureau from Washington as They Threaten to Block Funding for Trump and Hunter Biden Investigations
- Jim Jordan says he will take away funding from the new headquarters unless it moves to Huntsville, Alabama
- It’s the latest piece in the House GOP’s increasingly adversarial relationship with the agency that has grown to more than 35,000 employees.
- Wray faces criticism from the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as part of the FBI’s Jordanian investigation into politicization
First the Republicans wanted to cut funding from the FBI, now they want to send the agency to ruby red Alabama.
Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary who has accused the FBI of “arming” former President Trump, is submitting a “ride” — or additional provision — to an appropriation bill that would deprive the agency of funding for its new headquarters unless it’s moving to Huntsville, Alabama, a commission source confirmed to DailyMail.com. The Wall Street Journal first broke the news.
It’s unlikely to become law, but it’s the latest piece in the House GOP’s increasingly hostile relationship with the agency that has grown to more than 35,000 employees.
It comes as the agency eyed a move from its 70-year-old concrete Brutalist headquarters in Washington, D.C. — the J. Edgar Hoover Building — to the suburbs of the city in Virginia or Maryland.
Aerial view of the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville
House Republicans have complained about the plans — and threatened to cut funding.
“I don’t think the FBI deserves a Pentagon-sized building and a Taj Mahal to spend nearly a billion dollars on. I think there’s a better way to spend that money,” chairman Kevin McCarthy said on May 31.
Wray will be questioned Wednesday by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee as part of the Jordanian investigation into FBI politicization.
FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland have consistently denied that the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property and charges over his handling of classified documents were biased.
The FBI is eyeing a move from its 70-year-old concrete Brutalist headquarters in D.C. — the J. Edgar Hoover Building — to the suburbs of the city in Virginia or Maryland
Republicans also accuse the Justice Department of giving President Biden’s son, Hunter, special treatment for tax and gun crimes, allowing him to avoid jail time.
Huntsville is already home to the Redstone Arsenal – a US Army post that already employs 1,000 FBI employees.
Republicans have been on a crusade to take government beyond the Beltway with a series of field hearings across the US. Jordan argues that the FBI would be less likely to be tainted by liberal politics if it were based in Alabama, where Republicans dominate races statewide.
The FBI’s website describes Huntsville as the “epicenter of the FBI’s technology infrastructure for the future.”