‘I Just Don’t Get It’: Republicans Balk at Funding F.B.I. Building in Virus Bill

“It’s needed,” Mr. Shelby said. “The question is, is it needed now?”

In recent days, Mr. Meadows had pushed the plan to replace the building, which is crumbling, out of date — and long the subject an unusual fixation for Mr. Trump, a former real estate developer.

As far back as 2013, two years before launching his candidacy, Mr. Trump expressed his interest in the property, located on Pennsylvania Avenue a block from the location of what would become the Trump International Hotel. At that time, the F.B.I. building was the subject of a long-debated plan that would allow the demolition of the existing structure and clear the way for commercial development of that location, allowing the chosen developer to construct an F.B.I. facility in the Washington suburbs.

An executive at his company later expressed concern that the redevelopment project could create competition for Mr. Trump’s hotel. After Mr. Trump took office, his administration blocked a plan to move the building to a suburban campus, then unveiled another that would keep the building where it is, raising questions about whether he was seeking to protect his hotel from the possibility of a rival being built on the site.

His actions triggered an ongoing inquiry by the Justice Department’s inspector general and brought scrutiny by Democrats on Capitol Hill.

When asked last week why the provision was holding up negotiations among Republicans, Mr. Trump told reporters that he wanted to keep the building close to the Justice Department across the street.

“You can renovate the existing building, but it’s not a good building,” Mr. Trump said. “Or you could take it down and build a great building for the F.B.I. for 100 years and have it be incredible.”

A senior administration official familiar with the White House’s negotiation strategy said on Tuesday that Mr. Meadows and Mr. Mnuchin were treating the building provision as a potential bargaining chip to use later in negotiations with Democrats. Senate Republicans want to hold the package to around $1 trillion, while the Democrats are pushing a $3 trillion bill that would extend the $600 weekly enhanced jobless payments through the end of the year, send $1 trillion to struggling state and local governments, and provide $3.6 billion for election assistance.