Kash Patel Breaks Major News About FBI HQ During Fox Interview: 'I Didn't Know I Was Going to Do This'

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is preparing for a significant shift in its operations and physical footprint, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. In an interview preview released by Fox Business on Friday, Patel told host Maria Bartiromo that the Bureau will be leaving the aging J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., and redistributing agents across the country.

“Look, the FBI is 38,000 when we’re fully manned, which we’re not,” Patel said in the clip. “In the national capital region in the 50-mile radius around Washington, D.C., there were 11,000 FBI employees. That’s like a third of the workforce. A third of the crime doesn’t happen here. So, we’re taking 1,500 of those folks and moving them out.”

The move represents a strategic decentralization, aimed at better aligning resources with crime hotspots and improving collaboration with state and local law enforcement nationwide.

“Every state’s getting a plus-up,” Patel confirmed.

The decision underscores a broader philosophy within the Bureau under its new leadership: restoring the FBI’s reputation by refocusing on its core law enforcement mission, rather than entrenching itself in D.C.'s political machine. Patel framed the relocation as not just logistical, but symbolic.

“I think when we do things like that, we inspire folks in America to become intel analysts and agents and say, ‘We want to go work at the FBI, because we want to go fight violent crime and we want to get sent down into the country to do it.’ And that’s what we’re doing in the next three, six, nine months. We’re going to do that hard,” he said.

Then came the unexpected announcement.

“I did not know I was going to do this, but I’m going to announce it on your show anyway,” Patel said. “This FBI is leaving the Hoover Building because this building is unsafe for our workforce.”

Deputy Director Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent with a no-nonsense reputation, interjected: “You just gave up a big nugget there.”

Patel emphasized the Bureau’s commitment to its employees and the American people: “We want the American men and women to know, if you’re gonna 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.”

While conservatives have long criticized the politicization of federal law enforcement agencies—particularly their D.C. leadership—this move could signal a long-overdue realignment. One that puts the FBI back where it belongs: fighting real crime, not chasing headlines or political narratives.

As expected, Democrats were quick to react with skepticism.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) dismissed the announcement, claiming, “What the FBI needs right now is stability and support. What it doesn’t need is some half-baked effort that will create additional barriers for agents and disrupt collaboration with the rest of our Intelligence Community,” according to WRC-TV.

Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD), however, offered a more measured response. “If the FBI agents are going to work with the state and local law enforcement, you could have a multiplier effect that helps to reduce crime and other things like that.”

Ivey also used the moment to renew his support for relocating the FBI’s headquarters to Greenbelt, Maryland—a plan approved by the Biden administration in 2023 but previously halted by President Donald Trump. Trump had preferred to rebuild the headquarters at its current location, citing the need for proximity between the FBI and the Department of Justice.

In March, Trump reiterated his stance: “We’re going to build another big FBI building right where it is, which would have been the right place, because the FBI and the DOJ have to be near each other,” according to the New York Post.

For now, though, the focus is on action. Under Patel and Bongino’s leadership, the FBI appears ready to leave behind the crumbling walls of bureaucracy—and quite literally the Hoover Building—in favor of restoring public trust and reinvigorating its role in protecting the nation from real threats on the ground.