Kash Patel announces permanent closure of J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building for Reagan building move

The FBI has scrapped a nearly $5 billion proposal to construct a new building that would not have opened until 2035. Instead, the bureau will relocate most headquarters staff to the existing Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., Patel said.

Once renovations are complete, the majority of FBI headquarters employees will move into the building, according to Patel.

"Once complete, most of the HQ FBI workforce will move in, and the rest are continuing in our ongoing push to put more manpower in the field, where they will remain," Patel said. "This decision puts resources where they belong: defending the homeland, crushing violent crime, and protecting national security. It delivers better tools for today's FBI workforce at a fraction of the cost."

Patel, in May, first hinted that the bureau would be reallocating its workforce around the country, and would move agents out of the Hoover building, which opened in 1975.

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this report.