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The leadership of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has revealed a significant plan: the agency will permanently close its longtime headquarters and move personnel to already established facilities.

Relocation Plans for the Top Investigative Agency

According to a latest statement, the older J. Edgar Hoover Building, a landmark in downtown DC, will be shut down. The staff will be stationed in existing buildings across the capital.

This logistical shift will see a portion of agents and staff occupying space within the Reagan Building, which previously housed another government department.

“After more than 20 years of failed attempts, we finalized a plan to forever shutter the FBI’s Hoover headquarters and move the workforce into a secure and contemporary building,” officials said.

Modernization and National Security Focus

The decision is described as a way to better allocate public resources. Leadership stated that this plan directs funds to critical areas: on national security, crushing violent crime, and protecting national security.

It is also touted as providing the bureau's current workforce with better tools at a fraction of the cost compared to staying in the outdated building.

Legal Challenges and the Headquarters' Legacy

This decision comes after previous political controversies concerning the bureau's future home. Earlier, state leaders had filed a lawsuit over the cancellation of an earlier proposal to move the main offices to their state, arguing that funds had already been approved by lawmakers for that purpose.

The J. Edgar Hoover Building itself is a distinctive example of Brutalist architecture, planned and erected in the 1960s. Its design style has long been a subject of criticism, as it broke with the look of other government structures in the city.

Its own namesake, J. Edgar Hoover, was reportedly critical of the building, once calling it “the ugliest building ever built in the city of Washington.”