GOP fights over Key Bridge repairs as House speaker remains silent
The catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge has dominated headlines for a week. Many prominent voices among the nation’s leadership have voiced their support for Maryland in the aftermath. President Joe Biden responded immediately with a press conference. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer offered “any help needed as Baltimore works to recover.” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed to “be there for the state of Maryland.” But from House Speaker Mike Johnson? Crickets. No tweets, no press releases, no statements. That might be because he’s still learning what’s expected of the person second in line to the presidency. Or it might be because he’s just been too busy having the vapors over the White House’s Easter celebrations. Maybe it’s because the Key Bridge reconstruction has emerged as the latest friction point in the House with some of the usual Freedom Caucus suspects raising hell about who’s going to pay for fixing it. It began hours after the disaster, when the extremists jumped in with their usual conspiracy theories and racism, blaming the bridge collapse on everything from Biden’s infrastructure bill and border policies to the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, both Black men. So it’s not hard to fathom why far-right lawmakers don’t want the federal government involved in rebuilding the bridge. South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman said that Biden’s promise to pay for rebuilding the bridge is “absurd” and “idiotic.” His fellow South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan at least acknowledged that this is a “tragedy,” but insisted ”Before we spend one more dime for domestic infrastructure, we must build a domestic border wall.” Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania said that it was “outrageous” for Biden to pledge federal dollars. “You know, he doesn’t refer to it as the American taxpayer dollars on anything. You know, the first reaction, in fact the only reaction, tends to be to spend.” Oops. White House spokesman Andrew Bates was ready for that one: .@POTUS knows the federal government has a critical role to play when it comes to American infrastructure. So does @RepMeuser. The top feature on his website is that he just "secured $2,700,000 in federal funding to replace the Johnston Street Bridge" (https://t.co/txHeefDdFb) https://t.co/tfdv5icClO pic.twitter.com/4RmTzfTvG5— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) March 28, 2024 Meanwhile, responsible House Republicans like Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on transportation, knows that of course this has to be done. "I’m not hostile to that at all," Cole told Fox News, because the operations of this major port affect the national economy. "I've learned more about the Port of Baltimore than I knew in the last 48 hours, in terms of how important it is … whether it's moving automobiles through there, and moving agricultural—both exports and imports—in terms of supplies and machinery,” Cole said. “I'm not going to quibble with the President of the United States over this … and certainly, Baltimore has every reason to expect a full and robust federal response." Johnson might be keeping his head in the sand to avoid this brewing fight, preferring to take pot shots at Biden over Easter eggs, but he’s not going to be able to avoid it for long. The House returns to work next Tuesday. RELATED STORIES: Baltimore bridge tragedy spurs empathy from Biden, blame from GOP The House GOP can't even go on vacation without fighting Campaign Action
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The catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge has dominated headlines for a week. Many prominent voices among the nation’s leadership have voiced their support for Maryland in the aftermath. President Joe Biden responded immediately with a press conference. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer offered “any help needed as Baltimore works to recover.” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed to “be there for the state of Maryland.”
But from House Speaker Mike Johnson? Crickets. No tweets, no press releases, no statements.
That might be because he’s still learning what’s expected of the person second in line to the presidency. Or it might be because he’s just been too busy having the vapors over the White House’s Easter celebrations. Maybe it’s because the Key Bridge reconstruction has emerged as the latest friction point in the House with some of the usual Freedom Caucus suspects raising hell about who’s going to pay for fixing it.
It began hours after the disaster, when the extremists jumped in with their usual conspiracy theories and racism, blaming the bridge collapse on everything from Biden’s infrastructure bill and border policies to the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, both Black men. So it’s not hard to fathom why far-right lawmakers don’t want the federal government involved in rebuilding the bridge.
South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman said that Biden’s promise to pay for rebuilding the bridge is “absurd” and “idiotic.” His fellow South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan at least acknowledged that this is a “tragedy,” but insisted ”Before we spend one more dime for domestic infrastructure, we must build a domestic border wall.” Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania said that it was “outrageous” for Biden to pledge federal dollars. “You know, he doesn’t refer to it as the American taxpayer dollars on anything. You know, the first reaction, in fact the only reaction, tends to be to spend.”
Oops. White House spokesman Andrew Bates was ready for that one:
Meanwhile, responsible House Republicans like Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on transportation, knows that of course this has to be done. "I’m not hostile to that at all," Cole told Fox News, because the operations of this major port affect the national economy.
"I've learned more about the Port of Baltimore than I knew in the last 48 hours, in terms of how important it is … whether it's moving automobiles through there, and moving agricultural—both exports and imports—in terms of supplies and machinery,” Cole said. “I'm not going to quibble with the President of the United States over this … and certainly, Baltimore has every reason to expect a full and robust federal response."
Johnson might be keeping his head in the sand to avoid this brewing fight, preferring to take pot shots at Biden over Easter eggs, but he’s not going to be able to avoid it for long. The House returns to work next Tuesday.
RELATED STORIES:
Baltimore bridge tragedy spurs empathy from Biden, blame from GOP
The House GOP can't even go on vacation without fighting Campaign Action
