The J. Edgar Hoover Building has been the FBI’s headquarters since 1975|ajay_suresh|CC BY 2.0

The main FBI headquarters since 1975, the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, DC, will be permanently closed, FBI Director Kash Patel said.

All staff will relocate to the Ronald Reagan Building in DC, which is roughly half a mile away and closer to the Department of Justice. The facility also housed USAID, which was dismantled this year.

Patel framed the move as a major victory for US taxpayers, claiming it avoids a $5 billion plan for a new headquarters by 2035.

Critics argue that the decision ignores previous congressional mandates and the funding allocated specifically for a consolidated campus in Greenbelt, Maryland. Opponents claim that a downtown site cannot meet the bureau’s modern security requirements.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration maintains that the shift provides immediate tools for the workforce at a fraction of the cost.