News: The Biden administration is slated to decide on a package to help rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore prior to the president’s visit there this week.
President Joe Biden will travel to Baltimore on Friday, just 10 days after the cargo ship Dali slammed into the bridge, sending the structure into the Patapsco River while killing six workers.
The House and Senate are slated to return to Washington next week, and this issue will be toward the top of the agenda, along with renewing FISA, passing aid to Ukraine and renewing the FAA’s authority.
Senior White House officials have told us that they’re still determining the best way to get money to Charm City. The Biden administration sent a domestic-focused supplemental spending request to Capitol Hill in October, but Congress never acted on it.
Top Hill aides say they expect the White House to detail its funding request by the time lawmakers return to Washington next week. But the administration is adamant that no decisions have been made as of yet.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on WHAS in Kentucky Monday that the “federal government will step up” and pay for the “lion’s share of” repairs for the bridge in Baltimore. McConnell likened the forthcoming congressional response to those for hurricanes and other natural disasters.
McConnell’s buy-in will be critical here, but it’ll take several additional GOP votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster.
— Jake Sherman and Andrew Desiderio
