Congressional committee to hold hearing on Key Bridge response efforts as funding fight continues

Sam Janesch, The Baltimore Sun
·2 min read
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BALTIMORE — As Maryland leaders push for the federal government to cover all future expenses related to the Francis Scott Key Bridge, members of Congress will hold a hearing Wednesday regarding the response efforts.

The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing will focus on the federal agencies that have led the cleanup in the Patapsco River and the investigations into what went wrong when the Dali struck the bridge on March 26, killing six construction workers.

The committee, according to a scheduling notice, will hear directly from:

•Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Gautier, deputy commandant for operations

•United States Army Corps of Engineers Maj. Gen. William (Butch) H. Graham, deputy commanding general of Civil and Emergency Operations

•Federal Highway Administration Administrator Shailen Bhatt

•National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy

The work by those agencies to remove 50,000 tons of bridge debris from the water, reopen the Port of Baltimore, investigate the crash and plan the bridge reconstruction has not needed congressional approval.

But fully funding the up to $1.9 billion new bridge — which Democratic President Joe Biden said he supports — will need an act of the partially Republican-led Congress.

Maryland’s congressional delegation introduced a bill last month to ensure taxpayers in the state aren’t on the hook for a 10% share of the construction costs. That bill has not yet moved, though the nine Democrats and one Republican who represent the state in Congress have kept up a public and private lobbying effort.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen spoke on the Senate floor to promote the bill. And on Friday night, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, an Eastern Shore Republican, is scheduled to appear on Fox News alongside Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, who has visited Capitol Hill several times to personally lobby congressional leaders.

The House Transportation Committee, which will hold the hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday, is chaired by U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, and it was not clear Friday if funding will be part of the upcoming discussion. No members of Maryland’s delegation are on the committee.

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