Senate passes RFK Stadium legislation in major suprise
The Senate early Saturday approved legislation to transfer administrative jurisdiction of Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Stadium to the District of Columbia.
The legislation had been removed from a continuing resolution to fund the government, which seemed to doom it.
But in the wee hours of Saturday morning, the Senate approved it by unanimous consent. Since the House had already also approved a separate bill, the measure will now go to President Biden.
The language would pave the way for the Washington Commanders to potentially move their stadium from Landover, Md., to the nation’s capital.
If penned into law, it would grant the local government control of the 174-acre RFK campus for the next 99 years.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who had worked to pass the bill through the House, hailed the move.
“RFK STADIUM LEGISLATION PASSES SENATE AND HEADS TO THE PRESIDENT’S DESK,” he wrote.
“The Senate just passed my bipartisan D.C. RFK Stadium Campus Revitalization Act. If Congress failed to pass my RFK stadium legislation, this decaying land in D.C. would continue to cost taxpayers a fortune to maintain. My RFK legislation PROHIBITS federal taxpayer funds from being used to develop any future stadium at the RFK site in D.C.
“The Congressional Budget Office analysis of my bill also indicates it has NO IMPACT on the federal deficit. This bipartisan success is a testament to the House Oversight Committee’s unwavering effort to protect taxpayers and our full commitment to ensuring a capital that is prosperous for residents and visitors for generations to come,” Comer wrote.
The team’s managing partner Josh Harris celebrated the Senate’s passage of the bill that will give DC the “opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK stadium site.”
“This bill will create an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans,” Harris said in a statement on Saturday morning.
The team’s lease at Northwest Stadium, where they currently play, runs out in 2027, according to The Associated Press (AP).
“This is a win for DC, for our region, and for America,” Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said Saturday morning. “Everybody loves a good comeback story – and that’s DC’s story.”
The language had originally been included in the initial bipartisan funding package unveiled early this week, but it was torpedoed after misinformation elevated by tech billionaire and President-elect Trump's close ally Elon Musk on social media that falsely said the bill included $3 billion for an NFL stadium in D.C.