A US federal court has blocked the plans of President Donald Trump’s administration to move the FBI headquarters from its current building in Washington to the Ronald Reagan federal office complex. The court ruled that the administration had unlawfully abandoned an earlier approved project to build a new FBI building in Maryland, the Associated Press reports.

US District Judge Theodore Chuang, appointed by former President Barack Obama, found the administration’s decision to be “not in accordance with the law.” He also barred the authorities from moving the FBI into the Reagan Building, renovating it for the bureau’s needs, or redirecting congressional funds for those purposes.

The lawsuit against the administration was filed by the state of Maryland and Prince George’s County. They sought to preserve the project to build a new headquarters in the city of Greenbelt, which had been selected as the FBI’s location under Joe Biden’s administration.

“Maryland and Prince George’s County worked for more than a decade to secure the FBI headquarters and committed hundreds of millions of dollars,” said state Attorney General Anthony Brown. According to him, the court’s decision paves the way for returning the project to Greenbelt.

Last year, the Trump administration decided to reconsider the decision to build a new complex and instead proposed converting the Ronald Reagan Building, located in downtown Washington, into the FBI headquarters.

The FBI itself said the court had “improperly interfered” in the administration’s work for political reasons. The bureau emphasized that it would continue to seek the most effective option for housing its main office.

The current FBI headquarters — the J. Edgar Hoover Building on Pennsylvania Avenue — opened in 1975. Supporters of the move have repeatedly pointed to its poor condition. The building is designed in the Brutalist style, and protective netting has been installed around it to prevent fragments of the structure from falling onto passersby.

The site in Greenbelt was selected after a competition between Maryland and Virginia.