Congress is engaged in a last-minute race to fund the government and avoid a potential shutdown, and one of the key sticking points in negotiations has reportedly involved the largest federal real estate decision in the D.C. area.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, attempted to hold up the bill Monday night over a dispute involving the selection process for the next FBI headquarters, a decision the government is expected to make in the coming months, Roll Call reported.
Hoyer aimed to negate part of the selection criteria the General Services Administration released in September that appeared to favor the Virginia site over the two Maryland sites, according to Roll Call. The criteria gave weight to a series of “mission requirements” including the proximity of the headquarters to the FBI Academy Quantico, which is located closest to the proposed site in Springfield, Virginia.
After reaching a compromise, Congress circulated a bill draft Tuesday morning that said the GSA should meet with officials from Maryland and Virginia within the next 90 days to discuss their perspectives on the selection criteria, the FBI’s mission requirements and the specifics of their sites before making a decision.
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