United States – President Joe Biden will travel to Baltimore on Friday to see for himself the site where a bridge had crumbled, leading to the death of six workers during construction, as the debate about the use of the federal budget for rebuilding the bridge picks steam.
Urgent Calls for Federal Support
An unfortunate cargo ship incident occurred, causing the Francis Scott Key Bridge to crash into the harbor on March 26. Efforts to deal with the wreckage and to re-establish operating traffic through the shipping channel are underway, as reported by Reuters.
Biden’s visit was scheduled at this time due to an aerial inspection. Officials concerned with the difficulties the port closure can pose to the region’s economy have raised their voices.
Thanks to official state statistics, the Port of Baltimore has taken the lead in the volume of autos, light trucks, farms, and construction vehicles in Maryland. A significant proportion of that traffic was halted, though only some terminals outside the crash area have started functioning again.
Recovery Efforts
Some US legislators are rising in opposition to the new federal cash provided to refurbish the bridge.
The US government’s official website reported that the cost of rebuilding the bridge is expected to reach at least $2 billion.
On Friday, the White House’s Office of Management & Budget (OMB) sent a letter to Congress indicating it was requesting the federal government to cover all costs in the bridge’s replacement.
The disaster has deprived thousands of jobs of port employees who depend on it for a living.
Directly, the top officials in the White House, such as the chief of staff Jeff Zients, senior adviser Tom Perez, and economic adviser Lael Brainard, have been called by large employers in the Baltimore area to inform them to keep their workers, and a White House official has stated.
The presidential staff said local employers like UPS.N, Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Home Depot (HD.N), and Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.D) are planning to retain their employees.
In addition, the Small Business Administration has provided low-interest disaster loans. At the same time, Biden’s supply chain task force has met several times to discuss the crisis, whose impact has been generally normal.
The six victims of the impossible bridge collapse were all immigrants from Mexico and Central America who were fixing potholes on the bridge’s road surface when it fell down. The saddest part is that the last four bodies are still missing, and the divers assume that they are dead.
The meeting of Biden with the families of these immigrant workers comes at a period when the republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is scoring high points for the anti-immigrant rhetoric, portraying migrants as dangerous criminals in the line of poisoning the blood of America to get him a third presidential term.
FUNDING FOR THE BRIDGE
Hours after that bridge collapse, Biden stated government would “bear the entire burden” of rebuilding. Last Friday, his presidential office came up with $60 million as emergency funds.
However, Congress would need to approve the funds to completely replace the bridge. The administration would look at every conceivable way to recover the cost of the damage and “to make sure that the insurance proceeds or compensation paid are spent to reduce the costs for the American people,” said OMB Director Shalanda Young in her letter to the Senate.
White House officials have held meetings in the previous days with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s office concerning $1 billion for Ukraine and Israel and money for the collapsed Baltimore bridge. Two officials who are familiar with the issue but asked not to be named gave the information.
The two provisions stand alone as favorite bipartisan policies, but the President recognizes that Johnson has to please GOP majorities who are against the use of federal funds.
As a consequence, a lot of these spending proposals will be interconnected and will go together at the end of the line, the officials have argued.
A separate source within Congress said it is not certain that there is a need for an emergency supplemental spending bill. Another source has said that this bill might not be specifically for Baltimore but general for any other disasters in other parts of the country that will happen in the next few months.
As the legal action at the federal court proceeds, the lawyers for the companies that owned and operated the container ship that smashed with the bridge have maintained the position that it was not their fault but refrained from specifying the party responsible, as reported by Reuters.
They request a judge to discharge the company from any liability resulting from the catastrophe or, in the alternative, to cede all the liability amounting to $43 million, the cost of the vessel unaccounted for the damages and salvage.