Obama-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Administration Plan for FBI Headquarters

An Obama-appointed federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s plan to move FBI headquarters into Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Building, handing Maryland and Prince George’s County a major legal victory.

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ruled Monday in favor of Maryland and Prince George’s County, which had challenged the administration’s decision to abandon plans for a new FBI campus in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The Greenbelt site had been selected during the Biden administration after years of debate over where to build a replacement for the aging J. Edgar Hoover Building. In 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel and the General Services Administration reversed that decision and selected the existing Reagan Building in downtown Washington.

The Trump administration argued that using the existing federal property would save taxpayers billions of dollars compared with constructing a new campus. Officials also sought to redirect $555 million toward the Reagan Building project.

Judge Chuang vacated the 2025 Reagan Building selection and blocked the administration from moving forward with renovations or relocation there. He also ruled that the agencies’ actions were not authorized by law.

The ruling does not explicitly order the FBI to begin construction in Greenbelt. However, it effectively restores the previous site selection unless the administration successfully appeals the decision or Congress changes the applicable law.

The FBI criticized the ruling, arguing that the court had improperly intervened in decisions concerning the bureau’s headquarters.

The legal battle is the latest chapter in a nearly two-decade effort to replace the deteriorating J. Edgar Hoover Building. The Trump administration has maintained that renovating an existing federal property is a more cost-effective alternative to building an entirely new headquarters.

The ruling now leaves the administration facing a choice between appealing the decision, seeking congressional action or returning to the previously selected Greenbelt site.