The FBI Relocation Project Must Comply With the DHS Risk Management Process

Assuming the FBI HQ relocation to the Reagan Building really happens, then some unlucky people will be impressed into a Facility Security Committee and charged with carrying out the extensive Risk Management Process that the Interagency Security Committee requires of federal civilian office facilities.  

I was a bit surprised to find that the RMP is made available in the public sphere, but there it is to inform our public debate over the new FBI HQ. 

The RMP consists solely of process, you understand, and all details about security standards are kept out of public view. Still, please browse that process at the link above and prepare to be impressed by its comprehensiveness, starting with the determination of a facility's baseline Level of Protection and ending with the paperwork for accepting less than the full Level of Protection. 

One suspects that the FBI's Facility Security Committee and its unhappy Chair will be most interested in that last part of the process because, as the RMP recognizes, sometimes the full LOP is not achievable.

In an existing facility, physical limitations and budgetary restrictions may make the necessary LOP [Level of Protection] unachievable. For example, additional standoff distance might not be available; upgrade of window systems to resist blast loads might require complete renovation of the façade so the window system will stay attached to the walls and thus be cost-prohibitive; or the current design of the air handling system could prohibit relocation of air intakes to a less vulnerable area.

Oh, you can say that again. That paragraph ought to have been highlighted in bright neon. 

The full LOP also may not be cost-effective, which is a consideration that could be in play given the vast cost avoidance of the Reagan Building option over the Greenbelt site - reportedly $1.5 billion versus $3.5 billion. 

The process has wiggle room, of course, most notably in the authority given to senior officials to make "intangible adjustment" to the requirements. It is my guess that the White House was sold on the Reagan Building option despite its most glaring physical security vulnerabilty - which rhymes with "get back" - entirely because some clever person saw a way to work around the non-achievable LOP. 

Maybe he'll be right about that, but the acid test will be whether or not he personally signs off on the acceptance of that risk. Do that and it's his ass that'll be on the line. 

Meanwhile DHS and/or the FBI have a whole lot of work to do on that extensive RM process. If the shutdown goes on much longer I might pitch them my consulting services while I wait to go back to work. I'll even use the business name "Rosslyn Shuttle" just to make my qualifications clear!

Senate Majority Moves on New FBI HQ Project in DC, Leaving Maryland Behind

Maryland Senator leans hard on the security argument to oppose administration plan to relocate FBI HQ to federal triangle instead of Greenbelt. https://t.co/BjGSclyH9F

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) October 29, 2025

Maryland's Senator Van Hollen makes two points in his immediate response to today's approval of a prospectus for the relocation of the FBI HQ to the Reagan Building, one of which is laughable and the other of which is serious and heretofore ignored.

First, the laughable one. He calls the majority side's unilateral approval "wholly partisan." No kidding. As all adults know, every government decision is made for political reasons; there are no exceptions. And that's actually how it should be in a representative government. When Senate Democrats have had the whip hand they've used it, as they will again the next time they take the majority. But today, they are out of power. Vae Victis.   

Now the serious point, which is one that Senator Hollen has made before: the Reagan Building will certainly fail to comply with the applicable physical security requirements for an FBI Headquarters building. He rightly calls this a failure to address "glaring security issues" and points out that this matter went unmentioned in today's prospectus. 

Granted, his motive in making that objection is far from disinterested - billions in development money are at stake - however, he's performing a public service anyway a la Adam Smith's 'invisible hand.' 

Out of gratitude for that, I'll do him a favor and point out that the Interagency Security Committee security standards he refers to were not "developed following the 9/11 attacks" but instead originated in 1995 after the Oklahoma City federal office building bombing. That's a common mistake, but a lazy one since you could look it up. Van Hollen's staffers are doing him a disservice. 

My own unsolicited advice is to demo and rebuild the current FBI HQ on the same site. I won't elaborate on my reasons since I've aired them often enough before, and I'm sure I will again as the FBI relocation project creeps on for years to come.

   

One Month In and Substitute Teaching Is Looking Attractive

Reading the political tea leaves, you can get the impression that the shutdown may be settled soon. I'd caution against optimism on that. The Trumpening creates unprecedented conditions that make the old rules of Washington in-fighting no longer apply. 

Looking on the sunny side, you'll note that October is a three-paycheck month for most of us feds (since there are 26 biweekly pay periods in a year but only twelve months), and that may provide a little bemusement. 

I haven't seen this nugget covered by the news media, but at some DOS Bureaus certain of the exempted employees - those are the ones who have to come in to the office despite the shutdown - are actually getting paid. That's because they perform functions the administration has defined as priorities. 

But please keep that quiet, since the large majority of exempted employees are still working without pay. Getting backpay for them after the shutdown ends is authorized by law but is not required, so we'll see how that goes. 

Well, at least us furloughed employees can be happy that we're saving on commuting gas and parking costs. Take that, Arlington County parking meter enforcement quasi-cops!

India Found Out: Issue Visas in Haste, Repent at Leisure

India blew that visa thing big-time. https://t.co/qcUGYE2itV

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) October 23, 2025

In defence [note the British spelling, another imperialistic legacy] of those Indian visa officers of 1608, they didn't have our modern investigative resources, such as social media screening. 

A little less trust, a little more skeptical rigor, and they might have saved the vast subcontinent from a few centuries of grief.

    

The Crime of the Colombian Mariner (or, At Length Did Cross a Reaper Drone)

Great slant to how the NYT reports this exchange of accusations: It’s “The administration has provided no evidence to support [its] claims“ while Petro’s “description of Mr. Carranza and his boat could not be immediately confirmed.” https://t.co/YziPnKB5bv

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) October 20, 2025

As an aside, that old Coleridge poem (here) is well worth re-reading, provided of course that you were able to read it the first time back in high school. But that is not my point today.

Today, I'm struck with admiration for the creative power shown by the New York Times in its differing insinuations about the dueling narratives from Trump and Petro, his Colombian counterpart, over one of those kinetic interceptions of drug boats that we're carrying out in the Caribbean Sea. 

Petro, like Trump and his administration, provided no evidence for his claim, which is that an innocent fisherman was killed. But in his case, far from dismissing his claim, the NYT could not "immediately" confirm it. 

That sounds like they almost could confirm it. You get the impression that we should stay tuned because they might well confirm it later today. Or they at least have a good chance of confirming it someday. Just a few missing details to nail down and - wham! - Petro's claims will get the NYT's seal of approval.  

With such nearly poetic talent for between-the-lines messaging on display, I can't understand why the legacy news media is in free fall. 

   

Gaza's Famine is Over and Not a Meal Too Soon

Palestinians in Gaza celebrate the end of the war and announce that they have enough food to feed all of Gaza for 3 months.

“The genocide and famine are over.”

What do you notice?

pic.twitter.com/BkEsPOKqlz

— Dr. Maalouf ‏ (@realMaalouf) October 9, 2025

That poor fellow in the clip above has survived a long hard-fought battle with food deprivation these past two years, but it looks like he's finally got malnutrition whipped. 

While it's none of my business, if I may make a suggestion, Gazans might want to cut down on the carbs in that new three-month supply of food. 

  

A Hollow Threat Against an Empty Embassy

Stop blowing up our drug boats or the fortress embassy gets it. https://t.co/8JufdGZ3iN

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) October 7, 2025

Oh, please don't threaten that shutdown embassy office building, Mister Venezuelan Badguy. There's nobody there that you'd want to harm anyway, and if you were to blow it up we'd just have to rebuild it someday. 

Our taxpayers will thank you for your attention to this matter.

By the way, how coincidental is it that the embassy office compound in question was vacated years ago, long before the present government 'shutdown?' 

That touches on my favorite philosophical question about these shutdowns: when we have a federal holiday - or, even better, a snow day - during a shutdown, is that like a double negative that means the government office or embassy is open again?

Now that I'm furloughed, I have plenty of time to ponder that question.

Gov't Shutdown, Unlimited Free Time And No Income

Like about 65 percent of all those who work for [REDACTED] the foreign affairs department of the Washington DC area's largest employer, I've been furloughed. 

Oh, no! What does that mean exactly? Well, I've been banished from the office, and from remote work, and even instructed not to use my official cell phone except to check for more instructions. 

This must be what retirement will be like, except for the part about not being paid. My impression so far is that I can live with it.

In fact, this preview of My Golden Years has revived an earlier interest in making use of that retirement annuity lifetime federal fellowship to do something academic, such as researching and maybe even publishing something about a few pet topics.

For instance, public security measures can be studied as artifacts of material culture. Haven't you ever thought that anti-ram barriers in the city landscape might well unintentionally reveal something about our society and how it has changed over time?     

But all that lies in the future! I have a late relative who worked at DOS for over 50 years, and happily so. I don't plan to break her record, although I now see myself coming rather close. 

I say to you: don't despair, live frugally while we wait out the shutdown and, as 95-year old Clint Eastwood reminds us, the secret to a long life is to not let the old man in.