A stopgap funding measure unveiled Tuesday to avert an impending government shutdown includes a provision that will allow the Washington Commanders to eventually return to the District of Columbia with a new stadium.
Tucked away starting on page 225 of the mammoth 1,547-page bill is the authorization Commanders fans, the team, and local officials have for years sought from the federal government: city control over the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium site for the next 99 years.
The measure, which Congress is racing to pass before a Friday government shutdown deadline, would pave the way for the district to demolish the abandoned RFK Stadium located in the eastern portion of the city and erect a new one in hopes of luring back the Commanders.
The team, which is 9-5 this season, plays at a stadium several miles outside Washington in neighboring Prince George’s County, Maryland. The bill would enter the district and the federal government into a 99-year lease agreement that would allow the city to fund a new stadium, in addition to commercial and residential development.
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“As DC continues to experience high levels of crime, this legislation aims to clean up an area that has fallen into disrepair,” the House Oversight Committee, led by Rep. James Comer (R-KY), said in a statement. “Taxpayers are currently on the hook to pay ongoing maintenance costs and liabilities of the abandoned RFK site.”
The inclusion of RFK Stadium in the temporary funding measure caps off months of intense lobbying between the team, city officials, and congressional lawmakers. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) previously held up stand-alone legislation over opposition to the Commanders dropping its former Redskins logo of an Indian chief, which originated from a Montana Native American tribe.
