Norton Introduces Bill to Prohibit Relocation of Agency Headquarters Outside the National Capital Region

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced her Protecting Federal Agencies and Employees from Political Interference Act, which would prohibit the relocation of any federal department or agency headquarters outside of the National Capital Region (NCR) unless relocation legislation is passed by Congress and enacted into law. 

Last week, the Trump administration directed federal agencies to submit proposed relocations of agency bureaus and offices from the NCR to other parts of the country. During Trump's first term, his administration relocated several agencies outside the NCR, disrupting operations and leading to increased employee attrition and a decline in federal government services. This bill would prevent any such relocation without congressional approval.

“The Trump administration is engaging in an open war against federal employees, using illegal tactics to fire dedicated public servants without cause and using intimidation, threats and fear to force compliance with wasteful directives that demonstrate a deep-seated misunderstanding of how our government operates,” Norton said. “Moving federal agencies is not about saving taxpayer money and will degrade the vital services provided to all Americans across the country. In the 1990s, the Bureau of Land Management moved its wildfire staff out West, only to move them back when Congress demanded briefings on new wildfires.

“We can have a discussion on ways to make government work better, but politicians throwing cheap shots at the nation’s capital and surrounding region, where thousands of expert public servants – and their families – live and work, should not be part of that discussion.”

Norton’s introductory statement follows.

Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton

On the Introduction of the Protecting Federal Agencies and Employees

from Political Interference Act

March 3, 2025

Today, I introduce the Protecting Federal Agencies and Employees from Political Interference Act, which would prohibit the relocation outside the National Capital Region (NCR) of the headquarters for any federal agency located in the NCR or any federal employee position with a duty station in the NCR.  Last week, the Trump administration directed federal agencies to submit “proposed relocations of agency bureaus and offices from Washington, D.C. and the National Capital Region to less-costly parts of the country.”

The first Trump administration relocated a few agencies outside the NCR, which harmed the operations of the agencies and deprived the federal government of the expertise of experienced federal employees. For example, in 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture relocated the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture from the NCR to Kansas City. A 2022 Government Accountability Office report found that the relocation led to the agencies “losing…institutional knowledge and critical expertise.”  As a former head of ERS said in 2021, “The agencies have been decimated. Their ability to perform the functions they were created to perform—it doesn’t exist anymore.”

Employees in the headquarters for the agencies located in the NCR perform the indispensable work of keeping Congress informed of agency activities.  Congress cannot write laws or conduct oversight without the critical information provided by agencies. 

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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