by Anna Barrett, Alabama Reflector
June 11, 2025

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s leadership is considering moving one of its training programs for local, federal and international law enforcement from Quantico, Virginia, to Huntsville, according to the Washington Post.

Law enforcement agencies across the world nominate officers with leadership potential to participate in the 10-week training National Academy.

The FBI has a separate training program for new bureau hires. That program, and other parts of the FBI’s Quantico facilities, including the bureau’s laboratory division, would remain at the sprawling campus in Northern Virginia under FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s proposed pilot plan, people familiar with the discussions told the newspaper.

An FBI spokesperson said in a statement to States Newsroom that new facilities would be chosen based on cost and utility. Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency; Gov. Kay Ivey; U.S. Sens. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, and Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama and U.S. Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville were left on Wednesday morning. 

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that Congress should be “deeply skeptical of any plan to uproot the FBI’s National Academy from its longtime home at Quantico and relocate it to Huntsville.”

“This move raises serious questions, starting with why such a relocation is even necessary, and at what cost?” the statement said. “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.”

In a statement, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said the city would welcome the FBI.

“Expanding law enforcement training capabilities at Redstone Arsenal has long been a part of the FBI’s master plan,” the statement said. “We look forward to welcoming more trainees to Huntsville.”

The FBI moved an explosives training academy to Huntsville in 2016 and employed about 1,500 people in the city at the start of 2023. Republicans in Congress have named the city as a possible place for a new FBI headquarters, claiming the FBI’s current location exposes it to political influence and leads to duplicated services.  

The push to move the National Academy to Huntsville has drawn criticism from some FBI personnel, who see little justification for the potentially costly move, the people told the Post. The FBI’s training facilities at Quantico were recently upgraded, and the people familiar with the discussions said critics do not think Huntsville would have comparable facilities without significant new funding.

President Donald Trump’s pick for the FBI’s director Kash Patel, has said that he would move up to 1,500 staff and agents out of the FBI’s downtown Washington headquarters to satellite offices across the country. Five hundred of those employees would go to Redstone Arsenal, the bureau’s large satellite headquarters in Huntsville.

States Newsroom reporter Jacob Fischler contributed to this report. Updated at 12:20 p.m. with statement from Sen. Mark Warner and at 2:32 p.m. with a statement from the FBI. 

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This content presents information about an ongoing FBI facility relocation discussion, providing statements and perspectives from figures across the political spectrum, including Republicans advocating for the move and Democrats expressing concern. It avoids emotive or partisan language, focuses on factual reporting, and gives balanced attention to different viewpoints, reflecting a neutral, centrist editorial stance.