Van Hollen, Subramanyam Push Back Against Trump's Reckless Plan to Relocate Federal Agencies

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and U.S. Representative Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) join Representatives Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), and Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.) at a press conference announcing the introduction of their COST of Relocations Act. This legislation requires agencies to conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis and share it with Congress and the public before permanently relocating federal agencies – protecting agencies from the Trump administration’s politically motivated attempts to relocate them – which threaten to cripple agencies’ and their workers’ ability to carry out their missions. This bill would ensure any relocation is in the best interest of the taxpayer and the agency’s mission.

This introduction follows a February 26, 2025 memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in which the Trump administration gave federal agencies until April 14, 2025 to make suggestions for “[a]ny proposed relocations of agency bureaus and offices from Washington, D.C. and the National Capital Region to less-costly parts of the country.” The reckless movement of federal agencies by the Trump administration is a vengeful proposal that would waste taxpayer dollars while needlessly harming countless merit-based federal workers and the important public services they provide.