GOP Hard-Liners Balk At New Government Money For Baltimore Bridge Replacement

The House Freedom Caucus issued its list of demands only hours before President Joe Biden was set to inspect the accident scene.

A small but influential group of House Republicans said Friday they would put strings on new federal funding to replace the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed after a support was hit by a massive container ship March 26.

In a statement early Friday, the House Freedom Caucus said that before Congress approves new money to replace the bridge, “it’s important that (1) we first seek maximum liability from the foreign shipping companies upfront and (2) the Port of Baltimore draws upon already available federal funds.”

The statement from the group, which is composed of conservative and libertarian House Republicans, puts it directly at odds with President Joe Biden, who has proposed that Congress approve new funds to pay for all of the replacement costs.

It’s unclear how big the bill will be to replace the bridge, but estimates have ranged from $400 million to as much as $1 billion. While large, those totals would barely be a rounding error for the federal government, which spent $6.13 trillion in 2023.

The contrast between Biden’s stance and that of the Freedom Caucus may be highlighted Friday afternoon, as Biden was slated to visit the site of the bridge collapse, which killed six highway workers who were on the structure at the time.