Senate panel moves to let FBI headquarters stay in DC, rather than move to Maryland

A Senate panel on Thurday moved to let the FBI headquarters stay in Washington, D.C., rather than move to Maryland.

The Senate Appropriations Committee removed a Democrat-backed amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026 that would have blocked funding for a plan by the Trump administration to relocate the FBI headquarters to a new site in D.C., local news radio station WTOP reported.

The committee last week approved Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen's amendment that would have prevented the administration from using $1.4 billion in funding for any site other than Greenbelt, Md., which was chosen after a 15-year-long site review process. The amendment passed after one committee Republican voted with Democrats to support the amendment, which was Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who said at the time she needed more info about the plan to keep the headquarters in D.C.

After meeting with FBI Director Kash Patel this week, Murkowski said she now has a better understanding of the administration’s decision.

The Alaska senator also said that she couldn’t let the broader legislation – an annual appropriations bill funding the departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other agencies – fail over the issue of the FBI’s location.

Republican Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran sponsored an amendment, which Murkowski supported, that struck Van Hollen's amendment, and was approved by the committee, along with the full bill.

Van Hollen disagreed with the new amendment, saying that the original decision to move the FBI headquarters to Maryland was based on a bipartisan agreement.

“We have a selected site that was based on competition,” he said.

He said he would continue to fight on behalf of the Maryland site.