Chairmen Jordan and Comer Launch Inquiry into the Selection Process for the FBI's Headquarters
December 1, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sent letters to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Robin Carnahan, and former GSA official Nina Albert demanding information on the selection process of the GSA's recent decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland, as the location for the FBI Headquarters building.
Recent allegations suggest that the site selection process has been politicized and may not reflect the best use of American taxpayer dollars. GSA's decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland for the new facility superseded an earlier three-person panel decision on July 31, 2023—a panel comprised of two GSA officials and one FBI official—that unanimously recommended Springfield, Virginia as the best site to build the facility. GSA's decision to deviate from the panel's recommendation raises concerns about the site selection process and the potential for conflicts of interest. Chairman Jordan has put forth an appropriation rider to move the Bureau's headquarters to Huntsville, Alabama.
Excerpts of the letter to Director Wray:
"The Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability are conducting oversight of the General Services Administration's (GSA) recent decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland, as the location for the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Headquarters building. Recent allegations suggest that the site selection process has been politicized and may not reflect the best use of American taxpayer dollars. We appreciate your full cooperation with our inquiry.
"Since 2013, the FBI and GSA have been coordinating on how to use taxpayer funding for a new headquarters facility within the National Capital Region. On November 9, 2023, GSA released a report prepared by Nina M. Albert, the then-GSA Commissioner of Public Buildings Service (PBS), outlining her decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland, as the location of a new taxpayer-funded FBI headquarters facility. GSA's decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland for the new facility superseded an earlier three-person panel decision on July 31, 2023—a panel comprised of two GSA officials and one FBI official—that unanimously recommended Springfield, Virginia as the best site to build the facility.
"GSA's decision to deviate from the panel's recommendation raised concerns about the site selection process and the potential for conflicts of interest. On September 22, 2023, FBI Associate Deputy Director Brian Turner expressed concerns to GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan about Albert's impartiality after receiving a draft report a month earlier outlining the decision to choose Greenbelt, Maryland. In the memorandum, Turner wrote that Albert's decision did 'not adhere to the site selection plan's clear direction that subcriteria within each criterion are of equal importance,' which more heavily emphasized public transportation access than other factors. Albert's previous work as a senior official at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) also raises serious concerns about impartiality given that the agency owns the parcel of land designated for the new facility.
"On October 12, 2023, you raised additional concerns to Administrator Carnahan about Albert’s 'previous employment by an interested party,' in addition to her political appointment as PBS Commissioner. After the GSA's announcement of the new Greenbelt site, you sent an email to all FBI employees expressing concerns about the 'fairness' and 'transparency' in the site selection process. In the email, you stated, 'the FBI observed that, at times, outside information was inserted into the process in a manner which appeared to disproportionately favor Greenbelt, and the justifications for the departures from the panel were varied and inconsistent.'
"The Committees are also concerned that this funding for a new FBI facility is another misallocation of scarce federal resources. This incident, and the scandal that has resulted, is more evidence that the centralization of FBI operations in the National Capitol Region has allowed improper political influence to taint decisions that should be made in the best interest of the American citizens. It is more evidence that the FBI headquarters should be out of the National Capitol Region, as the Judiciary Committee has examined, to reduce politicization at the FBI and insulate the agency from improper political influences.
"While Administrator Carnahan has defended the site selection process as 'fair' and 'transparent,' and dismissed criticism of the process as 'without merit,' her assurances ring hollow. Accordingly, to inform our ongoing oversight of the FBI and the site selection process for its new headquarters, please provide the following documents and information:
1. All documents and communications referring or relating to the U.S. General Services Administration’s Site Selection Plans for the FBI’s Suburban Headquarters for the period of January 20, 2021, to the present;
2. All documents and communications referring or relating to the potential conflict of interest involving the U.S. General Services Administration's Site Selection Authority Nina M. Albert from July 6, 2021, to the present; and
3. A list of the government-owned sites that the Federal Bureau of Investigation considered for the proposed FBI Suburban Headquarters, including but not limited to, Greenbelt, Maryland, Landover, Maryland, and Springfield, Virginia."
Read the full letter to FBI Director Wray here.
Recent allegations suggest that the site selection process has been politicized and may not reflect the best use of American taxpayer dollars. GSA's decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland for the new facility superseded an earlier three-person panel decision on July 31, 2023—a panel comprised of two GSA officials and one FBI official—that unanimously recommended Springfield, Virginia as the best site to build the facility. GSA's decision to deviate from the panel's recommendation raises concerns about the site selection process and the potential for conflicts of interest. Chairman Jordan has put forth an appropriation rider to move the Bureau's headquarters to Huntsville, Alabama.
Excerpts of the letter to Director Wray:
"The Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability are conducting oversight of the General Services Administration's (GSA) recent decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland, as the location for the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Headquarters building. Recent allegations suggest that the site selection process has been politicized and may not reflect the best use of American taxpayer dollars. We appreciate your full cooperation with our inquiry.
"Since 2013, the FBI and GSA have been coordinating on how to use taxpayer funding for a new headquarters facility within the National Capital Region. On November 9, 2023, GSA released a report prepared by Nina M. Albert, the then-GSA Commissioner of Public Buildings Service (PBS), outlining her decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland, as the location of a new taxpayer-funded FBI headquarters facility. GSA's decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland for the new facility superseded an earlier three-person panel decision on July 31, 2023—a panel comprised of two GSA officials and one FBI official—that unanimously recommended Springfield, Virginia as the best site to build the facility.
"GSA's decision to deviate from the panel's recommendation raised concerns about the site selection process and the potential for conflicts of interest. On September 22, 2023, FBI Associate Deputy Director Brian Turner expressed concerns to GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan about Albert's impartiality after receiving a draft report a month earlier outlining the decision to choose Greenbelt, Maryland. In the memorandum, Turner wrote that Albert's decision did 'not adhere to the site selection plan's clear direction that subcriteria within each criterion are of equal importance,' which more heavily emphasized public transportation access than other factors. Albert's previous work as a senior official at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) also raises serious concerns about impartiality given that the agency owns the parcel of land designated for the new facility.
"On October 12, 2023, you raised additional concerns to Administrator Carnahan about Albert’s 'previous employment by an interested party,' in addition to her political appointment as PBS Commissioner. After the GSA's announcement of the new Greenbelt site, you sent an email to all FBI employees expressing concerns about the 'fairness' and 'transparency' in the site selection process. In the email, you stated, 'the FBI observed that, at times, outside information was inserted into the process in a manner which appeared to disproportionately favor Greenbelt, and the justifications for the departures from the panel were varied and inconsistent.'
"The Committees are also concerned that this funding for a new FBI facility is another misallocation of scarce federal resources. This incident, and the scandal that has resulted, is more evidence that the centralization of FBI operations in the National Capitol Region has allowed improper political influence to taint decisions that should be made in the best interest of the American citizens. It is more evidence that the FBI headquarters should be out of the National Capitol Region, as the Judiciary Committee has examined, to reduce politicization at the FBI and insulate the agency from improper political influences.
"While Administrator Carnahan has defended the site selection process as 'fair' and 'transparent,' and dismissed criticism of the process as 'without merit,' her assurances ring hollow. Accordingly, to inform our ongoing oversight of the FBI and the site selection process for its new headquarters, please provide the following documents and information:
1. All documents and communications referring or relating to the U.S. General Services Administration’s Site Selection Plans for the FBI’s Suburban Headquarters for the period of January 20, 2021, to the present;
2. All documents and communications referring or relating to the potential conflict of interest involving the U.S. General Services Administration's Site Selection Authority Nina M. Albert from July 6, 2021, to the present; and
3. A list of the government-owned sites that the Federal Bureau of Investigation considered for the proposed FBI Suburban Headquarters, including but not limited to, Greenbelt, Maryland, Landover, Maryland, and Springfield, Virginia."
Read the full letter to FBI Director Wray here.
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