Biden asks Congress to fund 100% of Key Bridge rebuild as part of disaster

On his way out of office, President Joe Biden is trying to keep his promise to pay for a new Francis Scott Key Bridge.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday, Biden asked for nearly $100 billion in emergency relief funding, including the rebuild of the collapsed bridge “at 100 percent Federal cost share.”

“The Congress has previously responded on a bipartisan basis to support communities in the wake of natural disasters,” Biden wrote. “It is our sworn duty now to deliver the necessary resources to ensure that everyone in communities reeling from Hurricanes Helene and Milton — and those still recovering from previous disasters — have the Federal resources they need and deserve.”

In the early hours of March 26, the cargo ship Dali lost power and crushed a support pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing the structure and killing six construction workers. During an April 5 visit to Baltimore, Biden pledged the federal government would fully fund a rebuild.

“We’re going to move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge as rapidly as humanly possible,” Biden said at the time. “I fully intend, as the governor knows, to have the federal government cover the cost of rebuilding this entire bridge — all of it — all of it.”

The allotment for the rebuild is part of a request of over $8 billion to fund the U.S. Department of Transportation’s emergency relief efforts to repair and reconstruct highways and roads in more than 40 states and territories that have been seriously affected by disasters, including hurricanes Helene and Milton in the Southeast.

“I want to thank President Biden for this, the emergency supplemental he submitted today with the funds in the Emergency Relief Program for the Key Bridge among other national priorities,” Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said at a media availability early Monday night.

The Maryland delegation is still hoping Congress will approve legislation committing the federal government to funding the bridge replacement at 100%. Van Hollen and U.S. Senator Ben Cardin introduced a bill on April 11 that specifies that the federal portion of emergency relief funds for the “bridge and its approaches shall be 100 percent.”

In late August the Maryland Transportation Authority awarded a $73 million design phase contract to construction giant Kiewit Infrastructure Co. for the first phase of the rebuild. The contract is a down payment on what is expected to be at least a $1.7 billion project to replace the Key Bridge over the Patapsco River.

president’s disaster request also includes $33 million for a Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for the Army Corps of Engineers to replenish funds used during wreckage removal in the Baltimore Harbor and channels in the aftermath of the bridge collapse.

The request also includes $79.5 million for U.S. Coast Guard operations and support to cover “unplanned” expenses for personnel and vessels that responded to the bridge collapse.

Biden is also asking for $150 million for disaster relief jobs, training and services for workers impacted by disasters and “mass layoff events,” including hurricanes and the bridge collapse.

Sun reporter Jeff Barker contributed to this report. Contact Dillon Mullan at dmullan@baltsun.com, 302-842-3818 or @DillonMullan on X.

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