President Donald Trump's role in decisions about a new FBI headquarters will face intense scrutiny when Democrats take control of a key U.S. House of Representatives committee in January, one of the panel's leaders said on Tuesday.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerald Connolly told Reuters in an interview that the Trump administration's abrupt cancellation last year of plans to build a new FBI headquarters in the Washington suburbs are a "prime subject for exploration."

Connolly would likely lead such an inquiry if, as expected, he becomes chairman of a House Oversight subcommittee.