WASHINGTON (CN) — As salvage crews worked this week to clear the tangled wreck of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge from the Patapsco River, some lawmakers laid the groundwork for what could become a battle over Congress’ role in its restoration.
The Key Bridge, which spanned a major shipping artery for the Port of Baltimore, collapsed last week after a roughly 900-foot container ship collided with one of its main supports. Six people, largely members of a construction crew working on the bridge at the time of impact, died in the collapse. First responders managed to pull two people from the wreckage.
Following the catastrophe, which left a large section of the I-95 freeway corridor impassable and blocked off shipping access to the Port of Baltimore, the Biden administration said the federal government would foot the bill for rebuilding the Key Bridge.
The Department of Transportation last week authorized roughly $60 million in emergency funds for relief efforts, but authorities have said restoring the collapse site and replacing the bridge could cost as much as $2 billion.
Some of that additional funding may have to come from Congress — where some more conservative lawmakers have bristled at the prospect of a fresh injection of government spending that comes hot on the heels of a protracted budget battle.
The House Freedom Caucus, the lower chamber’s conservative voting bloc, said Friday that lawmakers should not consider any legislation that would fund the Key Bridge’s rebuild without first consulting other options.
Laying out its position in a statement, the caucus argued that government should first seek “maximum liability” from the company that owns the Dali, the Singapore-flagged vessel which caused the bridge’s collapse. The Port of Baltimore should also use up existing federal funds before lawmakers authorize a fresh spending package, the statement read.
If more federal funding is needed, the Freedom Caucus said, Congress should ensure that the additional spending is fully offset by government revenue, and that “burdensome regulations” such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act can be safely ignored to prevent cost overruns.
The conservative bloc also demanded that any federal cash for they Key Bridge be “limited to physical structure repairs with a federal nexus.”
“This must not become a pork-filled bill loaded with unrelated projects,” the Freedom Caucus said, arguing that the House should follow the “single subject” rule and require that any proposed legislation only deal with the Key Bridge and funding for repairs.
Heaping onto its list of demands, the caucus further contended that its members would not support any federal funding for the collapsed bridge unless the White House lifts its monthslong pause on liquefied natural gas exports.
“Like the Baltimore harbor closure,” the Freedom Caucus contended, President Biden’s January decision to halt natural gas exports “has severe implications for foreign trade.”
Virginia Representative Bob Good, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said in a Friday post on X, formerly Twitter, that he would oppose “another pork laden spending bill” that includes funding for rebuilding the Key Bridge.
“Our country is $35 trillion in debt,” he wrote. “Any federal government’s involvement in the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge should make the project faster and cheaper while not borrowing any more money to pay for it.”
A spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on the Freedom Caucus’ position.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also did not immediately return a request for comment.
Some Republican lawmakers have already chafed at the idea that the federal government could cover the cost of rebuilding the bridge.
Pennsylvania Representative Dan Meuser said on Fox News March 28 that President Biden’s commitment was “outrageous.”
“He doesn’t refer to it as the American taxpayers' dollars or anything,” Meuser said. “The first reaction, in fact the only reaction, just tends to be to spend.”
South Carolina Representative Ralph Norman told The Hill last week that “the very thought of having the federal government pay for the Baltimore bridge is totally absurd.”
President Biden, for his part, has acknowledged that the shipping company which owns the Dali could be found partly liable for the Key Bridge’s rebuild — although he said the government should move on funding repair efforts before an accident report is finalized.
The president is scheduled to visit the Port of Baltimore on Friday.
The Key Bridge, opened in 1977, carried as many as 11 million vehicles a year over the Patapsco River. The river itself is a vital access point to the Port of Baltimore, which supports more than 15,000 jobs and handles tens of thousands of tons of cargo annually.
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