The mayor has long seen the RFK legislation as the first step to launching more serious talks with Commanders owner Josh Harris to lure the team back to its former home, and Wednesday’s passage puts Bowser closer to that goal — although it remains far from guaranteed.
“Tonight’s vote was a significant step forward in our efforts to unlock the full potential of the RFK Campus — for our residents and visitors, the community, and DC’s Comeback,” Bowser said in a statement.
The legislation was championed by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which more typically has targeted D.C. on crime and policing issues. His leadership and partnership with Bowser and D.C. Del Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the lead co-sponsor of the bill, became one of the most intriguing political developments last year and ultimately served as a powerful bipartisan combo that helped motor the bill over the House finish line.
Comer has said that he decided to introduce the legislation after conversations with Bowser about how redeveloping RFK could serve as a major economic boost for the city and could return the crumbling stadium to an asset for D.C., new stadium or no.
On the floor Wednesday, Comer touted Congress’s intense oversight of the city — including its bipartisan swat-down of the city’s revised criminal code last year — and said this bill was an extension of that “constitutional duty.”
The bill “represents Congress doing its job to oversee the District by authorizing the best utilization of area land to help the city thrive,” Comer said. “We should want this for the nation’s capital city, a home to the taxpayers’ federal workforce and a city that hosts millions of American visitors and global tourists each year.”
The legislation would transfer administrative control of the 174-acre riverfront parcel from the federal government to D.C., for a term of 99 years with no rent costs, enabling a range of development possibilities from a football stadium to restaurants, shops and housing. The city would pay any costs associated with remediation or environmental assessments of the land, along with demolition of the vacant stadium and future development and maintenance of the site. Norton and Comer described the arrangement as a “win-win” for D.C. and the National Park Service, which would no longer bear the costs of maintaining the land. The bill would also set aside 30 percent of the land for park and open space and require maintaining access to the Anacostia River.
“We can’t allow the largest unused tract of land in DC to continue crumbling when it could be put to productive use,” Norton said on X.
Bowser and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) sent a letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) with a similar message Wednesday morning. They urged support for the bill so the District could pursue a new development that could “create thousands of new jobs” and become “an attractive destination, not only for the enjoyment of District residents, but also for the 21 million visitors who travel to the nation’s capital annually.”
Perhaps strategically, they made no mention of a possible football stadium — which Mendelson has not been warm to in any case, and which was also an issue for some members of Congress who oppose the idea of using public funds or public land for a stadium. The legislation bars the use of federal funds for a stadium — but not local funds.
As the RFK bill wound its way through the House, the regional competition to host the Commanders at a new stadium hung prominently in the backdrop. Harris has talked with Bowser, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) about the possibility of a new stadium in one of the three jurisdictions — and in D.C., any more serious discussions are entirely reliant on Congress passing the RFK legislation.
The bill passed Wednesday despite unified opposition from the Maryland delegation, as Moore vies to keep the Commanders at their current home — which will soon no longer be called FedEx Field.
“Like other members of the Maryland delegation, I believe Prince George’s County in Maryland should be able to compete on a level playing field to keep the Washington Commanders,” Ivey said. “But this bill gives an unfair advantage to D.C. It’s most certainly not a level playing field when one interested jurisdiction receives a free transfer of federal government subsidized land.”
Raskin’s vote was not recorded, but when asked by a reporter why he did not vote, Raskin ran back into the House chamber to try to remedy that. He said he intended to vote no.
Raskin, typically one of D.C.’s staunchest home rule allies, said he did not view this bill as a home rule issue since it concerned federal land — which he said made restrictions on the land appropriate, such as not aiding multimillion-dollar sports franchises with local or federal public money.
Asked if he would oppose public funds for upgrades to FedEx Field, Raskin said it would depend. He said if D.C. got the gift of federal land and also put up public funds to lure the Commanders, he argued Maryland would struggle to compete and it would become unfair.
“It creates a very different scenario. It’s creating the problem I want to avoid. The problem I want to avoid is the federal government participating in a huge bonanza for a private franchise,” Raskin said.
Moore told reporters Wednesday that he remained in “very, very close contact with the team.”
“My insistence and our insistence that the Commanders stay in Prince George’s County, it is not waning at all,” he said.
Virginians, meanwhile, have since been more focused on the potential of a new basketball and hockey arena for the Washington Wizards and Capitals after their billionaire owner Ted Leonsis announced a handshake deal with Youngkin to move the teams from D.C.’s Capital One Arena to a future home in Potomac Yard. That major loss for D.C. — and its downtown recovery — only raised the stakes for Bowser as she continues to pursue the Commanders.
Commanders ownership was watching. Mark Ein, a minority owner, noted the “incredible bi-partisan landslide of support” for the legislation.
Still, even with the bill’s House passage, a new football stadium at RFK — or any development there — remains a long way off.
First the bill will head to the Senate, where at the moment there is no obvious mantle-carrier to advocate for it. D.C. bills rarely get stand-alone consideration on the Senate floor, and the RFK bill would be subject to the filibuster, requiring the support of 60 senators to advance. Some noncontroversial bills can go up for a unanimous consent vote — though that would also be highly unlikely because of a certain pair of Marylanders who also want the Commanders to stay in their state.
Should the bill pass Congress, and get President Biden’s signature, D.C. would more formally enter the competition for the Commanders. The decision would be up to Harris. Moore has previously expressed openness to using public funds to upgrade their current stadium, and the state has already invested $400 million in the Blue Line corridor revitalization project in the surrounding area. Bowser and Mendelson had put up a $500 million offer to Leonsis to upgrade Capital One Arena to try to keep the teams, leading some observers to wonder if that could end up as a floor in possible Commanders talks.
Further still, Bowser would need support from the D.C. Council, which, while united on using public funds to keep the Capitals and Wizards, is divided on using public money to build a new football stadium. And surrounding neighbors have already shown skepticism to the plan, too.
Many have advocated to use the parcel for more affordable housing, something Bowser said should be included in any development there. She has said she envisions a vibrant mixed-use space with dining, park space and recreational opportunities — not a “a lot of asphalt parking and only one use.”
A few longtime members of Congress who spoke in support of the bill expressed nostalgia for the days RFK used to be a “cornerstone of our nation’s capital’s sporting legacy,” as Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) put it.
“Just two miles from Capitol Hill, the RFK Stadium was a prime sports and entertainment venue for almost 50 years,” said Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.). “Today the stadium and the land that surrounds it sit vacant on the shore of the Anacostia River.”
The legislation, they urged, could finally change that.
Erin Cox contributed to this report.
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