FBI, Director Kash Patel announced on Friday that the bureau will be vacating its longtime Washington, D.C. headquarters—the J. Edgar Hoover Building—which has stood as the FBI’s central hub for the last 50 years.
Patel made the announcement during a preview clip of Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, appearing alongside Deputy Director Dan Bongino. “I didn’t know I was going to do this, but I’m going to announce it on your show anyway: this FBI is leaving the Hoover Building,” Patel said.
“This building is unsafe for our workforce. We want American men and women to know that if you come work for the premier law enforcement agency in the world, you’ll have a facility that reflects that standard—and this isn’t it.”
Bongino chuckled in response, acknowledging the weight of the statement. “You just gave up a big nugget there,” he said.
Kash Patel says FBI will be leaving the J. Edgar Hoover building
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 16, 2025
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Patel’s announcement isn’t just about infrastructure—it’s about fulfilling a promise. Prior to becoming director, Patel pledged to shut down the Hoover Building on “Day One” and convert it into a “museum of the deep state.”
His goal? To break the entrenched D.C. culture and send a clear message: the FBI is returning to its core mission—law enforcement, not politics.
Instead of keeping thousands of agents packed into a federal complex in the heart of Washington, Patel said he plans to send agents across the country to work where crime actually happens. “We’re taking 1,500 of those folks and moving them out,” he said, referring to the 11,000 FBI employees currently stationed within 50 miles of D.C. “A third of the crime doesn’t happen here.”
Calls to relocate the FBI out of the Hoover Building have been around for years. A 2011 Government Accountability Office report labeled the 1975 building “inefficient” and in serious need of upgrades.
The Obama and Biden administrations both pushed plans to build a massive 2.1 million-square-foot campus in Maryland, which would have cost American taxpayers $2.5 billion.
But President Donald Trump put a stop to those plans earlier this year. “They were going to build an FBI headquarters three hours away in Maryland, a liberal state,” Trump said. “But we’re going to stop it—not going to let that happen.”
Instead, Trump wants a new building constructed in D.C., close to the Department of Justice, to preserve the operational integrity of the nation’s top law enforcement agencies.
Patel’s decision marks a dramatic shift in how the FBI operates. Rather than remain entrenched in Washington’s political ecosystem, the new direction is about decentralization, accountability, and a renewed focus on real-world crime prevention—not beltway politics.
With the Hoover Building’s shutdown, Patel is sending a strong message: The FBI is no longer going to be a tool of the political class. It’s returning to its rightful role—serving the American people, not the D.C. establishment.
This is a developing story. More updates are expected as the FBI finalizes its relocation and restructuring plans.