The Trump administration has canceled the decade-long search by the federal government for a new FBI headquarters, reports the New York Times.
After years of unsuccessful attempts to convince Congress to back plans to relocate the FBI headquarters from its current downtown D.C. location to the suburbs, the General Services Agency has halted its search.
Officials from GSA, which handles federal real estate, said lack of stable leadership at both agencies deterred funding for the endeavor, reports Fox News.
Transitional leaders have been running both agencies, since President Trump’s appointee for FBI Director, Christopher A. Wray, has not been confirmed, and he has not chosen a permanent GSA administrator yet. In combination with high costs, the project has lost traction in Congress during Trump’s presidency.
GSA informed real estate developers bidding on the construction of the new FBI headquarters of the decision to cancel the awarding of the $1.7-billion contract. Vornado Reality Trust, which partially owns buildings with President Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, was a finalist in the bidding.
Had the plans for the new FBI headquarters panned out, a private developer would construct the new campus in exchange for the 43-year-old J. Edgar Hoover building, which currently houses only half of the 11,000 employees assigned to FBI headquarters. The rest will continue to work out of small offices scattered throughout the city.