In a shocking turn of events, a once-trashed provision to transfer the grounds of the old RFK Stadium from the federal government to D.C. was given new life.
The decision came just after 1 a.m. on Saturday as Congress worked to secure funding that would keep the government running through March 14, 2025.
Despite having been initially axed from the funding resolution, the RFK Stadium bill was ultimately cleared on the Senate floor with unanimous consent after being introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The same provision earlier passed the U.S. House in late February.
Within moments, the greenlighted initiative was hailed across the D.C. region, from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to Council member Kenyan McDuffie.
Echoing Bowser’s sentiments that the bill’s passage was a “win” for the D.C. region and the U.S., McDuffie said the development puts the District “one step closer to bringing the Washington Commanders back home, where they belong.”
“With the District regaining control of the historic RFK site, we have an opportunity to reimagine its future and create something extraordinary for our city,” the council member said, adding that the site could become a destination that attracts visitors from the across the nation and the globe.
In addition, Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, who both opposed the legislation in the past, chimed in to offer their backing after acknowledging that their past concerns with the measure had been addressed.
WTOP’s congressional correspondent Mitchell Miller joined the studio to offer some insight into the whirlwind session on Capitol Hill.
Listen to the full interview below or read the transcript, which has been lightly edited for clarity.
Kyle Cooper: After the Senate voted for the budget deal, then later on, about 1:15 in the morning, surprisingly, all of a sudden, the RFK Stadium site deal got approved by a unanimous vote. Tell us about that. Pretty surprising.
Mitchell Miller: Wow. What a play call coming at 1:15 in the morning. This one caught everyone by surprise, except for the senators who were clearly working it behind the scenes. When that came out, nobody could believe it. It had been dropped.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton had actually issued a statement saying she was disappointed that it didn’t get in the bill because it had been stripped from the continuing resolution.
So this getting added by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at 1:15 in the morning really caught everyone by surprise, but, except for — the Maryland delegation, clearly had signed off on this because shortly right after that Maryland’s Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen issued a statement saying that they were OK with the transfer.
And so, now this does give a big boost to the District of Columbia and its efforts to try to attract Washington’s Commanders back to D.C.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
