White House asks for $4 billion to cover Key bridge collapse

The Biden administration Friday asked Congress to greenlight an additional $4 billion in emergency funds that would cover, among other things, a rebuild of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland and wildfires in Maui last August.

The request comes on top of the administration’s $56 billion request last October in supplemental funding for everything from military needs to childcare and internet subsidies. Congress did not fund that request.

Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young Friday wrote a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., asking for approval of the funds.

The money “would ensure that the federal government fulfills its responsibility to rebuild Baltimore without endangering America’s ability to respond to other recent or future disasters across the nation,” Young wrote.

The request includes $3.1 billion for the Department of Transportation, which would go toward rebuilding the Key Bridge, which was originally financed with bonds. Another $80 million would go to the Coast Guard to compensate for its bridge-related recovery costs and $33 million for the Army Corps of Engineers for expenses related to wreckage removal.

The White House has asked Congress to authorize a 100% federal cost share to rebuild the bridge, which collapsed in late March after being struck by a cargo ship. The idea generally has bipartisan support in Congress. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., said at a May hearing on the collapse that the committee wants a “firmer estimate” of the price tag before committing to the funds.

Maryland officials in May estimated the cost of replacing the span at between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, and have said it would be completed by the fall of 2028. The bridge cost $60.3 million when it was built in the mid-1970s.

The additional emergency funding is particularly needed as the U.S. enters “what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is describing as an ‘extraordinary’ hurricane season,” Young said in her letter. “The administration urges prompt congressional action on this request, including for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, to ensure that we can uphold the federal government’s responsibility to both rebuild from past disasters and respond to future events.”

The administration is asking for $700 million for the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program to cover costs from last August’s Maui wildfires, storms in the South and Midwest, hurricanes in Florida and Georgia, flooding in Vermont, and Typhoon Mawar in Guam.