FBI permanently closing HQ at J. Edgar Hoover Building, Kash Patel announces

FBI permanently closing J. Edgar Hoover Building

The FBI is moving its headquarters to the Reagan Building, permanently closing the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which the bureau has been in since 1974.

WASHINGTON - The FBI is permanently closing its headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, Director Kash Patel announced on Friday.

FBI closing Hoover building

What we know:

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the move on social media Friday. According to Patel, the move is an effort to move the bureau into a safer, more modern facility.

"When we arrived, taxpayers were about to be on the hook for nearly $5 billion for a new headquarters that wouldn't open until 2035," Patel said. "We scrapped that plan."

The backstory:

The Hoover Building has been the FBI's headquarters since 1975. The building was first opened a year earlier. Prior to the Hoover building, the FBI's main offices were located in the Department of Justice building.

The J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) building in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 21, 2025. The federal government workforce in and around the nation's capital has shrunk by about 22,100 in the year through May, a new report s

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What's next:

According to Patel, the FBI will be moving its headquarters to the nearby Reagan Building. That building, Patel said, also needs some safety and infrastructure upgrades, but the FBI will move in once those upgrades are completed.

While most of the FBI headquarters staff will move to the new building, Patel said that several others will be reassigned to the field.

Patel did not give any timeline for those upgrades, or for when the Hoover building will be permanently closed.