President Biden got a first-hand look at efforts to clean up the mangled mess of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge as cranes, ships and dive crews worked to reopen one of the nation’s most important shipping lanes.

Aboard Marine One, circling the twisted metal remains and mass of construction and salvage equipment trying to clear the wreckage of last week’s collapse, Biden got his first up-close look at the devastation on Friday. While on site, he received a briefing from local officials, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers on the water situation and its impact on the region.

Biden also saluted police officers who helped block traffic to the bridge moments before it was struck by the ship, which helped prevent even greater loss of life.

I’m here to say your nation stands with you, and I mean it,” Biden said from the shoreline overlooking the collapsed bridge. “Your nation stands with you.

Eight immigrant workers from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were patching holes in the bridge when it was hit by a huge cargo ship and collapsed in the middle of the night of March 26. Two men were rescued, but the bodies of only two of the six dead have been recovered. The president met with the families of the victims near the bridge on Friday, the White House said.

The damage is devastating and our hearts are still breaking,” Biden said.

Officials have constructed a temporary alternative canal, mainly for ships involved in clearing debris. The Corps of Engineers hopes to open a limited-access canal for container ships and some ships moving cars and farm equipment by the end of this month and restore normal capacity at the Port of Baltimore by May 31, the White House said.

That’s important because longer delays in reopening shipping lanes could send shockwaves through the economy. Typically, as much as $200 million in freight moves through the Port of Baltimore every day, and it is the main hub for vehicle imports and exports.

More than 50 salvage divers and 12 cranes are on site to help cut and remove portions of the bridge from the main waterway. Officials told Biden they had all the resources they need to meet goals for opening the canal to the Port of Baltimore.

Biden also announced that some of the largest employers affected by the collapse, including Amazon, Home Depot and Domino Sugar, have pledged to keep their workers on the payroll until the port reopens. That news followed days of relief efforts by state and federal officials in an effort to ease the economic fallout from the incident.

From the air I saw the bridge torn apart,” Biden said, “but here on the ground I see a community that has come together.

It is unclear how the costs of clearing and building a new bridge will be covered.

The Federal Highway Administration has provided $60 million in emergency relief funds to get started. Exactly how much the collapse will cost is unclear, although some experts estimate the recovery will take at least $400 million and 18 months.

Biden said within hours of the collapse that the federal government will pay the full cost of that bridge’s reconstruction, and I expect Congress will support my efforts.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky liked the bridge collapse to support those flows after natural disasters and said the federal government will step in and provide the lion’s share of funding. But authorization is unlikely to be a slam dunk in Congress.

The White House announced Friday that it is asking Congress to authorize the federal government to cover 100% of the costs of cleaning up and rebuilding the collapsed bridges, rather than seeking funding through a separate, supplemental emergency funding request .

In a letter to congressional leaders, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young noted that similar financing approaches were used for recovery and rebuilding efforts that received congressional support in 2007, when a highway bridge collapsed in downtown Minneapolis during the evening rush hour, killing thirteen people. people.

We ask Congress to join us in demonstrating our commitment to assisting recovery efforts, Young wrote, although it is still unclear exactly how much money will be needed to cover costs.

But some Republicans in Congress are already lining up to demand politically controversial offsets for the funding. The conservative House Freedom Caucus issued a statement Friday saying, “If it becomes necessary to appropriate taxpayer dollars to bring one of America’s busiest ports back online, Congress must ensure that it is fully compensated and that burdensome regulations are removed.” is imposed.

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It pointed to possible federal cuts elsewhere and to regulations such as the Endangered Species Act.

The caucus’ letter also suggested that approval for bridge funds would be conditional on the Biden administration agreeing to lift a pause it imposed on liquefied natural gas exports.

The funding questions only heighten the political implications of the collapse as Biden faces former President Trump in the November election.

The Biden administration is backing a new public works package worth more than $1 trillion that Congress will approve in 2021. The president has traveled around the country demonstrating construction projects on highways, bridges and tunnels.

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The package has also allowed the president to capitalize on his love of train travel, commuting to and from Washington on Amtrak for many years as a senator from Delaware.

Biden himself noted that he had crossed the Key Bridge about a thousand times on his way from Washington to his home in Delaware, prompting the head of the Department of Transportation to say: Thanks for the toll, sir.

Weissert writes for the Associated Press.