WASHINGTON — Alabama’s congressional delegation is praising the FBI’s proposal to move a training academy from Quantico, Va. to Huntsville, as first reported by The Washington Post.
The FBI’s presence at Redstone Arsenal has received wide attention under the Trump administration and the latest news to possibly relocate the National Academy to Alabama is welcome news to the state’s lawmakers.
“It’s exciting that we’re going to continue to bring more people to Huntsville from the FBI plus be able to bring people maybe not to live here permanently but to come and train for a certain amount of time and go to other places across the country,” U.S. Sen. and gubernatorial candidate Tommy Tuberville told reporters Thursday. “So once again, Alabama is in the forefront of law enforcement, our military and this is going to be a great move for our FBI.”
The National Academy is a 10-week course for U.S. and international law enforcement officials.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is leading the relocation effort, according to the Post reporting.
“Any relocation options are being evaluated for budgetary reasons and to save money, while taking advantage of the best facilities available,” the FBI said in a statement.
Virginia Democratic lawmakers aren’t as enthusiastic about the move that would take away FBI personnel from their state. U.S. Sen. Mike Warner, D-VA, slammed the proposal, urging Congress to be “deeply skeptical” of the move to Huntsville. Warner is vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
“This move raises serious questions, starting with why such a relocation is even necessary, and at what cost?” Warner said in a written statement.
“Quantico is co-located with other critical FBI and national security assets and before we spend taxpayer dollars on a disruptive and potentially unnecessary move, the bureau owes Congress and the American people a clear justification for this plan.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, told Alabama Daily News the potential move sounds like “good news to me.”
Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, said he didn’t know where the FBI was in the process of potentially relocating the facility, but said he is all for it.
“Obviously, there’s a big FBI presence already there,” Aderholt told ADN. “I’ve been to their facility. It’s brand new. It’s an incredible facility. So it would mean a lot to Alabama to have it.”
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, praised the move on social media.
“North Alabama has the expertise and plenty of room to host the FBI’s national training headquarters, ” Strong said in a post on X.
Virginia’s other senator, Democrat Tim Kaine, said the relocation proposal makes “no sense” and would not be an efficient use of tax dollars. Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin told The Washington Post in a statement that Quantico “remains the best place to train the FBI.”
The FBI at Redstone Arsenal is already expected to grow under the leadership of Director Kash Patel, who plans to move 500 personnel to north Alabama by the end of the year. Patel toured the facilities in Huntsville in April alongside Tuberville and Britt.
“We’re going to put more and more and more people here on a permanent basis from the FBI,” Patel said after the April tour.
Patel also told Strong during an appropriations hearing last month that the FBI plans to move another 1,300 to 1,400 people to Huntsville in about the next three years. However, he said that’s dependent on more funding to build out Redstone’s South Campus.
“In order to fill it, and in order to build buildings three and four and five as we call them and the new training facilities—that we and the appropriators have already looked into and approved—we’re going to need another $160 million to accomplish that,” Patel said at the hearing.