Senate committee blocks Trump from moving FBI headquarters

By 
 July 12, 2025

A Senate committee just blocked President Donald Trump from moving the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

The Hill reports that the Senate Appropriations Committee did so on Thursday.

It was a 15 to 14 vote, with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joining her fellow Democrats. This, of course, is not an usual thing for Murkowski to do. Here's who Murksowski joined:

The details

The amendment to the 2026 Department of Justice funding bill comes from U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

Just the News reports:

Van Hollen's amendment blocks the Trump administration from using federal dollars to move the FBI headquarters to a site other than in Greenbelt, Maryland, in the suburbs just outside Washington.

The outlet goes on to explain how "the General Services Administration selected the Greenbelt site in 2023, during the previous Biden administration."

Trump, in contrast, wants to move the FBI headquarters to the Ronald Reagan Building.

Fox News reported:

FBI Director Kash Patel is shutting down the J. Edgar Hoover building and moving its headquarters across Washington to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, with President Donald Trump touting the move, telling Fox News Digital that the FBI "will finally have the kind of building they deserve."

The Trump administration says that this would save the American people billions. The outlet goes on to quote Patel as writing, "Team, the FBI Headquarters will be moving down the street to the Ronald Reagan Building, and the Hoover building will be shut down."

A senate snag

Now, it would appear that the Trump administration's planned move is going to be blocked, thanks, in large part, to Murkowski.

The senator has put out a statement, saying:

My understanding is that this has been a decision that was made just very recently. So I, for one, would like to know that this analysis has actually been going on for more than just a couple months, that there’s actually been that effort to ensure that we’re going to move forward.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) believes that Trump is going to be "furious" about this.

He said:

The Democrats, with one Republican vote, were able to add an amendment that basically turns upside down the president’s decision about where to put the FBI building. I think the president is going to be furious.

Trump, at the time of this writing, has not publicly commented on the situation.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson