FBI Director Kash Patel announces the relocation of 1,500 agents and the abandonment of the historic headquarters at J. Edgar Hoover building

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed Friday that the agency will leave its historic headquarters in the J. Edgar Hoover Building, located in Washington, D.C., and relocate approximately 1,500 agents from the national capital region to field offices across the United States.

The decision, according to Patel, is in response to the need to modernize FBI facilities and redeploy its workforce to fight crime more effectively in communities across the country.

In an exclusive interview with Sunday Morning Futures on Fox Business, scheduled to air in full on Sunday, Patel explained that the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which opened in 1975, “is unsafe for our workforce.”

“The American men and women to know, if you're going to come work at the premier law enforcement agency in the world, we're going to give you a building that's commensurate with that, and that's not this place," he said.

The director noted that the FBI has about 38,000 employees when fully operational, but is not currently at that capacity. Of the 11,000 employees located within a 50-mile radius of Washington, D.C., representing about one-third of the workforce, 1,500 will be moved to other states.

“A third of the crime doesn't happen here, so we're taking 1,500 of those folks and moving them out," Patel said.

"Every state's getting a plus-up, and I think when we do things like that, we inspire folks in America to become intel analysts and agents.”

The director stressed that this reassignment seeks to encourage FBI employees to focus on combating violent crime, with an implementation plan that will unfold over the next three, six and nine months.

The search for new headquarters

The search for new FBI headquarters has been a more than decade-long process, led by the FBI and the General Services Administration (GSA).

Among the options considered were locations in Maryland and Virginia, close to Washington, D.C.

Patel, who took office Feb. 20, 2025, has pledged to reduce the FBI's presence in Washington and strengthen field offices, aligning with his vision of an agency more focused on local operations.