Rep. Chaffetz Introduces Bill To Move Federal Agencies Away From DC
Federal agencies like the FBI have already begun moving out of the District to allow for larger campuses, but one influential congressman wants to expedite that trend and make agencies move farther away.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduced a resolution last week calling on federal agencies to move away from the District, and urging agency heads to recommend alternate locations, NBC4 first reported. The bill has been referred to the committee on Oversight and Government reform, which Chaffetz chairs.
The bill does not specify whether Chaffetz wants agencies to move to the DC suburbs, like the FBI will soon do, or leave the DC market all together. But a statement released by the congressman suggests the latter.
"This resolution is the first step toward decentralizing federal agencies and initiating a process that shares the wealth of stable federal jobs with other communities across the United States," Chaffetz said in the statement.
The federal government is DC's largest office tenant by far, and an exodus of agencies away from the District would have a major impact on the market. DC has just one representative in Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, who cannot vote on the House floor. Bisnow has sent Holmes Norton a request for comment and will update the story with a response.
