President Biden visits Baltimore to survey bridge collapse site

President Biden flew over the scene of the Francis Scott Key collapse in Baltimore Friday, surveying the wreckage as the recovery enters a pivotal new phase, 10 days after a massive container ship plowed into the span and brought it down in a jumble of twisted steel and concrete.

Biden pledged federal support “every step of the way” in a speech afterward, pressing Congress to fund the cost of rebuilding the 1.6-mile bridge that could cost more than $1 billion by some estimates as officials announced plans to fully reopen the crippled Port of Baltimore by the end of May.

“We’re going to move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge as rapidly as humanly possible,” Biden said, speaking on the bank of the Patapsco River with the fallen bridge as a backdrop. “We will do so with union labor and American steel.”

Biden, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and other officials leading the cleanup did two loops around the disaster site in the Marine One helicopter Friday before the president met with first responders and the families of the six construction workers who perished when the bridge plunged into Patapsco on March 26.

In the days since recovery efforts have ground forward methodically amid pelting rain and icy winds.

Crews have opened two small channels to allow tugboat and barge traffic in and out of the airport and officials plan to open one that is 280 feet wide and 25 feet deep by the end of April that can accommodate some ships carrying cars and farm equipment that is key cargo at the port.

Aid has begun to flow to stem the economic pain caused by the port’s closure to shipping traffic. The U.S. Department of Transportation also announced Friday a previously awarded $8 million grant that can be used to expand cargo capacity at Tradepoint Atlantic, a port facility in Baltimore unaffected by the bridge collapse. The federal Small Business Administration opened two offices this week to help small businesses get low-interest loans. The Biden administration allocated $60 million in emergency relief funds last week.

Despite the steps, one of the biggest goals of the recovery has so far been thwarted – the recovery of the bodies of four construction workers who are missing and presumed buried in the rubble of the bridge 50 feet below the surface of the river.

The visit comes as his administration formally requested that Congress allocate funds to pay for the entire cost of rebuilding a new span, which experts estimate could cost billions of dollars. The move has received some pushback from Republicans.

Workers dismantle the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post

“The Federal Government should cover any needed costs for reconstructing the bridge,” Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a letter to congressional leaders Friday. “While we continue to assess those costs alongside our Federal and State partners, we are asking Congress to join us in demonstrating our commitment to aid in recovery efforts by authorizing a 100 percent Federal cost share for rebuilding the bridge.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday announced a tentative timeline for the reopening of the shipping channel in the Patapsco River blocked by the collapse. The disaster has idled shipping at the Port of Baltimore and spread economic pain locally and nationally.

Officials also said tests have shown no pollution in the waters surrounding the stranded 985-foot Dali container ship; they are working to move a 350-ton section of the bridge and will begin removing cargo containers from the vessel in the coming days to help refloat it.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Brig. Gen. John P. Lloyd said on a boat tour of the wreckage Thursday that conditions have been challenging this week, particularly for divers surveying and cutting up the wreckage 50 feet below the surface of the Patapsco River.

“It’s a very complex environment for the divers,” Lloyd said. “They are underwater, walking along the channel in the debris with almost zero visibility.”

Moore said “the state is still mourning” Friday morning during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” continuing to press his case that the catastrophe in Baltimore should be a nationwide concern – an argument he’ll soon personally bring to Capitol Hill.

The first call from the White House came within 90 minutes of the bridge collapse, Moore said, praising the consistency in help from the Biden administration, which has “continued to walk this path with us.”

He later posted on X that “Maryland is grateful” for the $60 million in aid already received from the federal government, promising to use that pool of money for wreckage removal, transportation detours, and design and reconstruction of a new bridge.

Biden’s formal request to have Congress approve to pay for the total bridge replacement accelerates a lobbying effort already underway on Capitol Hill.

Moore plans to be personally involved; he will visit Tuesday to begin that process in person, meeting with Maryland’s 10-member congressional delegation and Young, according to two people familiar with the meeting.

The House Freedom Caucus expressed reservations about Biden’s plan for rebuilding the bridge in a statement Friday morning.

In an “official position” posted on X, the influential group of conservatives conditioned approval of bridge funding on several factors, including extinguishing all existing federal funds first, securing “maximum liability” from the shipping company upfront and tying the negotiation for bridge money to Biden’s policies on liquefied natural gas terminals.

The group has also opposed the last three supplemental spending initiatives for disasters, but all three passed with bipartisan support anyway.

“If it proves necessary to appropriate taxpayer money to get one of America’s busiest ports back online, Congress should ensure it is fully offset and that burdensome regulations … are waived to avoid all unnecessary delays and costs.”

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who is from Baltimore, addressed concerns Thursday and vowed to “hold all responsible people fully accountable.”

“We know there’s some who people say, ‘Well, isn’t there a third party liabilities, isn’t there insurance?’” he said during a daily news briefing. “We’re not going to delay opening our channel or rebuilding our bridge with the lengthy process that may take.”

Attorneys for the companies that own and manage the Dali asserted in federal court legal filings they were not to blame for what happened. They asked a judge to excuse them from any liability for the disaster or, alternately, cap damages at $43 million, the cost of the vessel minus damage and salvage.

A Morningstar analysis found insurance companies could ultimately pay out $2 to $4 billion for damage and economic fallout from the bridge collapse, making it the most expensive disaster in maritime history.

Meanwhile, Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., who represents Baltimore, said he’s already spoken with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), telling him “We do not want to affect the economy. He understood that.”