“There really is no room for jubilation after so many months of dismantling,” said Andrew Kreider, a longtime Environmental Protection Agency communications and government affairs officer who is on administrative leave.

Many Democratic lawmakers, too, were ambivalent about a bipartisan, Senate-passed measure to fund the government through Jan. 30. Democrats in Maryland and elsewhere were strategizing how to push for expanded Affordable Care Act tax credits without the leverage a shutdown provides.

But Republicans cheered the anticipated end of the record-long shutdown, which began Oct. 1.

“We’re opening up our country. Should have never been closed,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday in Veterans’ Day remarks.

The Senate legislation, which must still be passed by the House, reverses the mass firing of employees during the shutdown and prevents more firings through Jan. 30, 2026, while promising to hold a vote on expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits in December.

But there is no assurance the health care subsidies — which Democrats consider critical to keeping premiums affordable — will be voted on by the House.

That uncertainty left Democrats, and some federal workers, with mixed feelings about the shutdown’s possible end.

“Speaking on behalf of myself, I am relieved that I will be returning to work,” Environmental Protection Agency employee Justin Chen said in an interview.

“However, there is a lot of uncertainty with this compromise,” said Chen, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 238.

“It doesn’t fund EPA  past Jan. 30,” said Chen, whose council represents about 8,000 EPA employees nationwide. Nor does it contain a renewal of the health care subsidies.

“We cannot build a healthy nation while denying Americans the right to access affordable health care,” Chen said earlier in a prepared statement.

The tax credits, introduced during the COVID pandemic in 2021 and subsequently extended, increased the amount of aid that eligible recipients were already receiving.

“Look, COVID is over,” Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris, who represents Harford County and the Eastern Shore, told The Sun in an interview. “We have to return to pre-COVID policies.”

Harris supports the Senate plan. But Democrats are trying to determine what comes next.

First, they will need to move on from the frustration of a failed shutdown and that might take a beat.

“There’s half the world, I think, that’s just like, ‘What the f — did we do with all that? Why did we go through all that?’” said Michael Ceraso, a Democratic strategist. “‘Why did people go through so much pain, just to make a point that Republicans are bullheaded and stubborn?’”

Another half feels like there was some success. Senate Democrats were able to guarantee a vote on the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits in that chamber. Such a vote forces Republicans to answer to their constituents on why they supported or opposed it — in theory.

“That’s all hogwash,” Ceraso said. “We should’ve f — ing saw this through.”

Even before a deal was in place, the shutdown had deteriorated for Democrats behind closed doors. One Democratic Senate staffer described the mood to The Sun last week. The staffer said everyone knew the party would cave and reopen the government, with no policy victories to show for it. Democrats had screwed it up, yet again, they added.

The House will have to pass the bill on Wednesday, and then the president has to sign it to officially reopen the government. The postmortem has begun, as the party looks for another way to address health care policies. But some aren’t sure what that looks like.

“I don’t know,” Ceraso said when asked about the party’s next step. “How much of it is symbolic? … How much of this is people trying to prove that they have backbone against Trump? How much of this is ego?”

“There’s not, like, a universality to all this,” Ceraso added.

One path being discussed is a procedural move to force a vote without the approval of the Speaker of the House, Louisiana Republican Rep. Mike Johnson. Democratic lawmakers would start a legislative petition, known as a discharge petition, on extending the Obamacare tax credits. If the petition reached 218 signatures, the House would vote on it.

“I’m certainly hearing grumblings,” Rep. Johnny Olszewski, a Baltimore County Democrat, said about a potential discharge petition. “It’s reflective of the fact that it’s not just Democrats who want to see action taken on extending the subsidies — at least in the short term — so that we can have a longer term conversation about how we keep health care affordable and available for Americans.”

Have a news tip? Contact Jeff Barker at jebarker@baltsun.com and Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.

The funding package passed 60 to 40, with seven Democrats and one Independent in favor. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to oppose it.

Both Maryland senators announced their opposition before the vote.

“I am prepared to work toward a compromise, but this funding bill before us tonight does not come close to meeting those terms,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced on Sunday night, when the deal was first being considered. “Not only does it fail to address the impending explosion in working Americans’ health insurance costs, it also lacks the necessary guardrails to stop President Trump from ignoring the law and withholding funds for important priorities.”

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks made a similar statement.

“As I look at this new [continuing resolution], I am glad to see it includes language I fought for to reverse the draconian [reductions in force],” Alsobrooks said. “But, I have maintained from the beginning of this Republican shutdown that I could not vote for anything that does not address the rising health care costs.”

A group of eight Democratic senators struck a deal with Republicans on Sunday to reopen the government. In exchange for their support, Republicans included language that reverses the mass firing of employees that happened during the shutdown and prevents more firings through Jan. 30, 2026, while promising to hold a vote on expiring Obamacare tax credits in December.

The Senate voted to pass a continuing resolution that will fund the government through Jan. 30. It was packaged with three-year-long appropriations bills — funding Congress and the Departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs.

While the deal came together on Sunday, procedural actions held up its final passage until late Monday night.

Three Democrats had voted with their Republican colleagues for over a month to reopen the government. But it wasn’t until late last week that negotiations gained traction to break the longest funding stalemate in American history.

With extensive airline disruptions starting, and continued concerns about federal employees going without pay, five additional Democrats decided: It was time.

“It wasn’t going to happen,” Sen. Angus King, a Maine Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said during a news conference on Sunday of the Republicans’ capitulating.

The party’s lengthy fight focused on rising health care costs. They wanted an extension of the Obamacare tax credits included in the funding bills. They waited over a month for Republicans to cave.

“This was the only deal on the table,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, said during the news conference. “It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the ACA tax credits that tens of millions of Americans rely on to keep costs down.”

“Waiting another week — or another month — wouldn’t deliver a better outcome,” Shaheen added.

But Van Hollen and Alsobrooks, along with the rest of their party, were unmoved. The Maryland lawmakers criticized the deal as Republican indifference, despite it being brokered with fellow Democrats.

“After weeks of refusing to negotiate, Senate Republicans have finally put forth a new CR that reaffirms their indifference to the health care crisis and growing unaffordability of our country,” Alsobrooks said in her statement.

The funding package still has to be considered by the House, then signed by the president. The lower chamber could vote on it on Wednesday.

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.

Reps. Steny Hoyer and Jamie Raskin said they were sending a letter Monday to the state’s General Assembly that will argue against Senate President Bill Ferguson’s decision not to pursue a new congressional map. The letter marks another lever that presses against Ferguson’s resistance to redrawing Maryland’s congressional districts, as state and national Democrats try to keep up with Republicans’ redistricting efforts. Hoyer and Raskin represent parts of Southern Maryland and Montgomery County, respectively.

“We can redistrict to make Maryland House seats more competitive in a way that counters the Trump national steamroller,” the letter says, “and we believe such an effort can survive any legal attack.”

The four-page letter, exclusively obtained Monday by The Baltimore Sun, directly addresses the reasons Ferguson gave his colleagues for not pursuing a new map, responding to the legal concerns that Ferguson raised. It also details the redistricting battle that began in Texas earlier this year and the impact of the second Trump administration on Maryland, minimizing the Senate president’s concerns to the assembly, and applying congressional pressure to get Ferguson to redraw the state’s map.

“We don’t need to remind you that Marylanders have paid a heavy price during the first year of the second Trump Administration: more than 15,000 federal employees have been fired with thousands more now furloughed and thousands of federal contractors thrown out of work; tariffs have driven up the cost of living while millions struggle to make ends meet; and over 250,000 Marylanders face devastating cuts to their health care,” the letter says.

As Maryland Democrats urge Ferguson to redistrict, State Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Baltimore County Republican, told The Sun on Monday that a legal challenge to a potential new map is already being prepared. Szeliga led the lawsuit that saw a Democrat-proposed map struck down in 2022.

The potential challenge would be based on the 2022 lawsuit, with the same legal group that represented her in 2022. “There’s no map yet, but we are ready to go with the argument that was found to be salient, to be legal,” Szeliga said. “And we’ll have additional information we can offer and make an even stronger case.”

A petition would operate in tandem with the lawsuit. Should a new map become law, Republicans would have roughly six months to get just over 60,000 signatures, Szeliga said. If they succeed, the new map would be added to the 2026 ballot and be voted on by Maryland residents.

In that case, a stay could be issued that would allow the current map to remain in place through the 2026 elections.

Ferguson has been under fire from Democrats across the country and within Maryland since he explained his opposition to his General Assembly colleagues in a late October letter. His most notable concern has been a potential legal fallout.

“Despite deeply shared frustrations about the state of our country, mid-cycle redistricting for Maryland presents a reality where the legal risks are too high, the timeline for action is dangerous, the downside risk to Democrats is catastrophic, and the certainty of our existing map would be undermined,” Ferguson, a Baltimore City Democrat, wrote.

Hoyer and Raskin urge the assembly to consider the state of American democracy. They write that it is “an ethical, moral and political imperative to use every lawful means at our disposal to fight back against the aggressive and extreme gerrymander orchestrated by Donald Trump and the GOP.”

“If these things are true, and we believe they indisputably are, then the only remaining question is the practical and tactical one: can we successfully and lawfully redistrict to respond to these GOP assaults?” the letter says. “Here, too, we believe the answer is yes.”

Ferguson is also worried that creating a new map could backfire and see Democrats lose seats. Democrats hold seven of the eight congressional districts. Eastern Shore Rep. Andy Harris is the lone Republican.

A redrawn map could see Harris’s district turn from heavily Republican to a toss-up seat or one favorable to Democrats, though diluting the Democratic voting base in other districts. It could eliminate the only conservative in Maryland’s delegation, and an influential figure in the House of Representatives.

Harris is a key member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairs the powerful House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers who often dictate changes to policy.

“It disenfranchises huge amounts of the Maryland population,” Harris previously said about a potential new map. “It just wouldn’t be fair.”

A Harris spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

The lawmakers’ letter pointed out that there are no current legal challenges to the current map, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. Democrats tried to pass a map that endangered Harris’ seat in 2021, but it was struck down as an illegal gerrymander.

Should that happen again, Hoyer and Raskin were confident it wouldn’t hurt Democrats. They wrote that a court would likely reinstate the current map — calling it a “backstop to any serious mischief” — rather than draw a new one that could help Republicans win an extra seat. Even if a new map was challenged in court, there’s a chance the redrawn map would be left in place until the court ruled on a potential lawsuit, the lawmakers argued.

If that happened, a new map might remain in place through the 2026 election, even if it was later ruled to be illegal.

“We encourage you to do everything you can to move expeditiously to study this situation and re-draw the map to address the national crisis we face,” the letter says.

While officials have publicly characterized their explorations of a new map as a search for fairness, Szeliga argued it’s the opposite.

“I would say, if they want to draw a map that respects voters: Two of the last four governors in Maryland have been Republicans,” Szelgia said.

“You need a new dictionary to define fair,” Szeliga added. “They’re rigging the system.”

Ferguson has already experienced backlash from Maryland’s congressional delegation. This past week, Gov. Wes Moore, who favors redistricting, announced the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission to consider a mid-cycle map change. The commission will solicit public feedback on the state’s current map. It will be helmed by Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks.

Ferguson didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.

“The president’s plan is not just illegal; frankly, it just lacks common sense,” Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit. “This is ridiculous. And frankly, it’s the reason that we are all so frustrated, but why none of us are surprised.”

The lawsuit, first reported by The Baltimore Sun, follows multiple steps by the administration to position the Ronald Reagan building as the bureau’s next headquarters. Its announcement came a week after a Senate committee voted to approve funding to renovate the Reagan building for the FBI, finalizing the abandonment of a site in Greenbelt that had been previously selected as the bureau’s next home.

With congressional means of keeping the headquarters exhausted, Maryland launched its Hail Mary. At the Wayne K. Curry County Administration Building, Moore and Attorney General Anthony Brown — joined by Prince George’s County Reps. Steny Hoyer and Glenn Ivey, County Executive Aisha Braveboy, and Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson —  were defiant despite the bleakness of the situation for the state.

“We are going to fight this thing with everything that we have,” Moore said. “In Maryland, we do not bend the knee.”

As indicated to The Sun by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks prior to the lawsuit’s announcement, Brown implied the state’s case will focus on the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022. The attorney general declined to share how his office would approach the case; however, the appropriations act was referred to multiple times. “I don’t stand here typically and describe litigation strategy.”

The act required the General Services Administration to choose from three sites. Greenbelt was one of them. Washington, D.C. was not.

Moore indicated that the $250 million that the state has set aside for the project and potentially the $100 million set aside by Prince George’s County, could also be part of the argument.

“We have a strong complaint that we put together,” Brown said. “It is a tight case.”

A potential precursor to the legal arguments unfolded last week in the Senate committee meeting. Alsobrooks argued the law compelled Congress to act in favor of Greenbelt. Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, disagreed. Capito said that after the GSA submitted a plan for the Greenbelt site in 2024, it had fulfilled its obligations under the law.

Brown was confident the state would receive a fair hearing by the federal courts in the District of Maryland.

“Nobody can predict the outcome and the result of a case,” Brown said. “But we think that if there was ever a strong case you could point to, it is this case.”

It’s not the first time President Donald Trump has scuttled a plan for a new headquarters. In 2017, during the first Trump White House, the GSA killed efforts to construct a new building due to a lack of congressional funding. Former President Joe Biden renewed the search, and Greenbelt was selected in 2023.

Hosting a new FBI complex was expected to be a financial boost for the city, the county and the state. It stood to be the largest single economic development project in the history of the county, creating over 7,500 jobs and adding roughly $4 billion in economic benefits, Braveboy said during the conference on Thursday.

“This battle, the one we’re announcing today, is worth fighting,” Braveboy said. “By filing this lawsuit today, we’re standing up and fighting for the economic future of Prince George’s County.”

It’s only Maryland’s most recent clash with the administration, and between Moore and Trump. The pair have had an antagonistic relationship since Trump threatened to send the National Guard to Baltimore, claiming high crime rates. The claims contradicted reports that showed violent crime in the city had fallen in recent months.

Trump has since threatened to revoke federal funding for the construction of the new Francis Scott Key Bridge, and the state has sued the administration multiple times for various actions.

“I’m not trying to take an aggressive approach against the Trump administration,” Moore said. “I’m trying to make sure the law is followed.”

Safety concerns have been raised by Maryland lawmakers about Trump’s desire for the FBI to remain downtown.

Rep. Steny Hoyer recounted a meeting in 2009 with then-FBI Director Robert Mueller. Mueller told Hoyer that the bureau needed a headquarters with a safer location than downtown Washington, D.C. Maryland Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks have sought clarity on whether or not a downtown location can meet the Level Five security requirements the FBI previously requested for its new home.

Last week, Alsobrooks asked that the committee wait to approve funds to renovate the Reagan building until it was determined that it could meet the security standards for the bureau. Republican senators objected.

State officials expressed optimism that they would win the lawsuit. But a legal challenge could take years to conclude. And the Trump administration doesn’t dawdle.

“We really did win this fair and square,” Ivey said. “It’s really clear-cut that this was the best site to be at.”

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.

The lawsuit is a last-ditch effort to save years of work by state officials and lawmakers to land the coveted new headquarters, finally succeeding, only to see the Trump administration dismantle the dream in a matter of months.

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks mentioned the possibility of a lawsuit after the Senate voted last week to approve funding for the FBI headquarters to move to the Ronald Reagan Building. The Reagan Building formerly housed the United States Agency for International Development before it was shuttered earlier this year by the administration.

“We believe that we have a real case to be made,” Alsobrooks told The Baltimore Sun last week after the vote.

The lawsuit is expected to be announced tomorrow by Attorney General Anthony Brown at a press conference in Prince George’s County, according to people familiar with the planning. Brown will be joined by Rep. Steny Hoyer and County Executive Aisha Braveboy.

Brown’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The White House referred The Sun to the Department of Justice. The DOJ did not respond prior to publication.

President Donald Trump first signaled in March that he didn’t want the bureau’s new headquarters to be in Maryland. He cited his preference for the FBI to be in proximity to the Justice Department. He also called Maryland “a liberal state,” though he said that wasn’t why he opposed the Greenbelt site.

Although a new headquarters outside of the district received bipartisan support in recent years, that’s no longer the case. Republicans have favored Trump’s plan, citing the cost and desire to use the government’s existing real estate portfolio over new construction.

The Reagan building has several listed tenants on its website. Among them: the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business – Downtown D.C. Campus.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, chairwoman of the committee that approved the funds being used for the Reagan building, said the administration is working with current tenants, which include some government offices, on the next steps.

“That’ll all be worked out,” Capito said last week.

In July, the administration requested funds that had been allocated to the Greenbelt site instead be used for the Reagan building. They cited the expected cost — estimated at $3.5 billion — of building a new complex in Greenbelt. Renovating the Reagan building for the bureau’s use has been estimated at $1.5 billion.

Van Hollen tried to reserve $1.4 billion for the Greenbelt site later that month. The money had been set aside for use for construction of the new headquarters. Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee blocked his attempt.

Whether the Reagan building can meet the security requirements previously requested by the FBI hasn’t been officially determined. Capito said that the bureau has indicated that the building could be made secure. It’s unknown if a security analysis has been conducted. Testimony from the bureau in 2013 stated a preference for Level Five security requirements, the highest available.

Alsobrooks questioned if the Reagan building’s downtown location, in proximity to heavy traffic and an underground metro line, could hamper its safety. The bureau’s current headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, doesn’t meet Level Five standards.

During last week’s committee meeting, Alsobrooks requested that the vote be postponed until it was clear that the Reagan building could meet Level Five requirements. Republicans objected, and the committee voted to approve the funding.

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com. 

State Sen. Dalya Attar joined an infamous list of Maryland politicians who’ve been embroiled in scandal, after she was charged last last month with using an illicit video to extort a former employee.

Maryland politicos are still digesting the ramifications. Some see allegations of an isolated incident; strange, but nothing new. Others pondered what the indictment means for Attar — and the state of American politics.

An unsealed federal indictment on Thursday claimed that Attar, her brother, and a Baltimore police officer recorded a video of a former campaign consultant in bed with a married man. They threatened to make the video public if the consultant advocated against Attar.

The charges followed other scandalous allegations that have plagued lawmakers and candidates in both parties, including: Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo and past Reddit posts; Virginia Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones’ murder text messages, and Florida Republican Rep. Cory Mills’ allegations of dating violence, assault and stolen valor.

Attar said in a social media post that it was her former consultant who harassed and extorted her, which caused Attar to fear for her family’s safety. She admitted to having the consultant followed when the consultant was in Baltimore, and said the video was taken publicly and legally.

“Feeling desperate to protect my family, the message was conveyed to the woman that we had a legally obtained video and the six-year-long harassment campaign must stop,” Attar wrote in the post, adding that she met with the woman and asked to be left alone.

“Instead, the woman went to law enforcement and falsely accused me and my family of illegally recording them and attempting to extort them for money — all lies.”

Political scandals are part of the nation’s history. Resignations, even arrests, have dotted administrations from George Washington to the present.

The allegations against Attar aren’t unfamiliar. Secret recordings played a role in some of America’s and Maryland’s most notorious scandals — Watergate and President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and the arrest of former Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson. But Foxwell said, since President Donald Trump’s election in 2016, the proliferation of allegations and accusations against elected officials has eroded public trust.

“We live in an age in which Americans have lost trust in the political process,” Foxwell said. “When people read things like this — which is absurd, and prurient, and fundamentally immature — it just reinforces every negative stereotype that people have about politics and politicians.”

Not everyone believes that the recent era of politics is evidence of its further deterioration. John Willis, Maryland’s Secretary of State from 1995 to 2003, cautioned that heightened periods of misconduct have popped up throughout the state’s history.

He added that it would be difficult, without extensive data, to determine if scandals are getting worse, cautioning against tying instances of impropriety together when they happened in different places.

“Maryland was always saved by New Jersey. New Jersey had more instances of political figures getting in trouble than Maryland did,” Willis said. “What happened in Illinois is not necessarily what happened in Alabama.”

State politicians have a history of legal problems. Among the most prominent: Agnew, who resigned as vice president in 1973 and pleaded no contest to charges of tax evasion; Gov. Marvin Mandel, convicted of fraud and racketeering in 1977; Johnson, arrested in 2010 after an FBI wiretap and a scene too good for Hollywood; and Pugh, indicted in 2019 on 11 counts of fraud and tax evasion.

The digital age has divided the scandals of today from those of years past, making it easier for indiscretions to become public. Smoke-filled rooms and backdoor deals have been replaced by group chats and WhatsApp messages. Past social media posts and internet activity leave digital trails of evidence that regularly hamstring aspiring politicians.

“Technology has changed such that people can video things as they’re going down, and they come to light,” said Roger Hartley, dean of the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore. “People leave strains of digital communications all over the place, like what happened with Senator Attar.”

Both Hartley and Willis attributed some angst to the cycle of news. Allegations like Attar’s draw headlines. But she’s one official among many, and most don’t face similar claims of misconduct.

“Unfortunately, these kinds of incidents — and especially if they’re not taken seriously — can tarnish all of the great work that government leaders are doing every day to make things better,” Hartley said.

Attar has said she intends to remain in office. Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said in a statement after the allegations that the Senate holds its members to the highest ethical standard, and it would continue to as it learned more about the case.

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.

“Federal Team Maryland fights every year to provide the Army Corps with the federal funding to advance our state’s navigation and water infrastructure priorities — priorities that are critical to our economy, including major hubs like the Port of Baltimore,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who led the letter, told The Baltimore Sun in a statement. “With their unlawful threats to withhold this funding, the Trump administration is threatening both Maryland communities and the regional economy.”

The letter, exclusively obtained by The Sun, requests that the administration provide detailed information on the announcement that it would pause or cancel $11 billion for projects across the country. Baltimore, New York, San Francisco, and Boston were specifically listed as targeted areas. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced the decision on X.

“The Democrat shutdown has drained the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to manage billions of dollars in projects,” Vought posted on X on Oct. 17. “The Corps will be immediately pausing over $11 billion in lower-priority projects & considering them for cancellation, including projects in New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Baltimore. More information to come from the Army Corps of Engineers.”

No additional information has been released. The letter requests that the Army for Civil Works provide the delegation with a list of projects from the Army Corps’ Baltimore District that have been affected by the announcement, whether the projects have resumed, how long they’ve been paused, and how much funding was impacted.

The Army for Civil Works oversees the Army Corps of Engineers.

“Congressional Committees, the Maryland Congressional Delegation, and the State of Maryland still have not received any notification as to which projects in our state may be impacted,” the letter says. “Despite numerous attempts to receive an update and any details on this list, the Administration has provided no information on projects that may be included despite the fact that Baltimore was specifically named.”

Federal funding for Army Corps projects is authorized and set aside by Congress, typically with bipartisan support. Several active projects are in Maryland. Among them are wastewater infrastructure upgrades in Western Maryland, flood risk management on the coast, and navigation projects to support shipping in and around the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest ports in America.

The letter was addressed to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam R. Telle. The delegation requested the information by Nov. 12.

“We’ve received absolutely no information regarding the projects that might be affected,” Rep. Johnny Olszewski told The Sun. Olszewski’s district includes north Baltimore City. “It certainly has become their M.O., in terms of issuing vague threats and targeting Democratic-led states and districts.”

The silence is particularly unsettling in north Baltimore, where the new Francis Scott Key Bridge is in the early stages of construction. Congress passed federal funding for the bridge last year with bipartisan support, but President Donald Trump and other administration officials have expressed discontent with the project. And it’s unclear whether it falls under the purview of the Army Corps.

“That is a concern of, I’m sure, everybody here in Maryland,” Baltimore City Rep. Kweisi Mfume said. “The problem is that the corps will not release the information on the projects that we’re talking about. So this could be just speculation, assuming that it might affect the bridge. Or it could be a valid worry and a valid concern.”

Social media photos show activity at the bridge site as recently as last week. The Maryland Transportation Authority released new renderings of the replacement bridge last week.

The corps’ Baltimore District could not be reached for a request for comment.

Should the bridge be left alone, Mfume said that spending interruptions on other projects would be detrimental to the state.

“There are just too many lives that would be affected and too many communities that deserve better than this,” Mfume said. “This is a Democratic and Republican funding initiative that we know is so very vital to the states that we represent.”

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.

A prospectus to move the FBI headquarters to the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, D.C., was approved by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. It was approved along party lines over the objections of Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks and other Democrats.

The approval adds momentum to the Trump administration’s campaign to house the bureau just off the National Mall, ditching the Greenbelt site that was selected after a yearslong competition for the new headquarters.

“This is unprecedented,” Sen. Angela Alsobrooks told The Baltimore Sun. “We went through a lengthy process. The [General Services Administration] made its decision. And, here we are today to change to a site that was never even” in consideration.

“There were three sites that were in the law that were eligible to be selected,” Alsobrooks added. “D.C. was never one of them.”

With the Senate’s approval, the GSA — essentially the landlord of the federal government — was given permission to seek appropriations to transform the Reagan building into FBI headquarters. However, the agency still needs approval from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee before moving forward. The committee has yet to consider its corresponding resolution, according to a spokesperson.

“The funding is in the appropriations bills. It just needs to be assigned to the Reagan project,” committee Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, told The Sun. “We had no prospectus on the Greenbelt project last time. So it’s not like this is overriding something.”

“It makes sense to me,” Capito added. “It’s a lot less expensive, easier moving, more immediate.”

Recent estimates for constructing the Greenbelt headquarters totaled about $3.5 billion, Capito said. The cost of preparing the Reagan building for the FBI’s use is unknown.

Money for a new headquarters has already been set aside by Congress It was previously expected to go to the Greenbelt site. The site was selected in 2023, while Alsobrooks was Prince George’s County executive, after a 2022 bill required the GSA to choose one of three sites for the headquarters.

“In taking this unprecedented step to overrule the committee’s minority in this decision, Republicans are undermining the mission and safety of the men and women of the FBI and also setting a dangerous precedent for future committee decisions,” Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in a statement. “They have become rubber stamps for a lawless president. They should be ashamed.”

While the possibility of an in-state headquarters isn’t dead, it is on life support. It will likely stay that way for some time. Alsobrooks mentioned a potential lawsuit to challenge the government’s real estate pivot, but a legal fight could take years. If the House approves its GSA prospectus — once the government reopens and the House returns to D.C. — federal funds will be available to begin transforming the Reagan building into the FBI’s new home.

The Greenbelt site has been under siege by the administration for months. It was selected for the future headquarters after a multi-year competition. But in March, President Donald Trump said that he didn’t want the headquarters to move to Maryland — “They were going to build it … in Maryland, a liberal state,” Trump said, adding that the state’s political lean had no bearing on his decision. He said it should remain near the Department of Justice.

In July, the FBI informed Van Hollen’s office that the administration had requested that funds set aside for the Greenbelt site be used for the Reagan building. The building housed the now-defunct United States Agency for International Development. GSA cited the cost of building a headquarters at the selected site.

Later that month, Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee blocked Van Hollen’s attempt to reserve $1.4 billion in spending for the Greenbelt site.

Alsobrooks and Van Hollen also questioned whether the Reagan building could meet the bureau’s preferred security requirements for a new headquarters, given its downtown location. The current headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, is also downtown. But in 2013, the bureau testified that it needed a Level Five security assessment for its new headquarters. Level five is the highest level of security that can be implemented.

Capito said she asked the bureau about security concerns and was told they could be addressed. But an official assessment hasn’t been conducted.

“The truth is that we know that this is not about what’s in the best interest of the FBI,” Alsobrooks said.

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.

The bills are being introduced by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks and Rep. Sarah Elfreth. Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is a cosponsor.

“This has been an ongoing effort that we have made to ensure that during the shutdown we’re providing as much support as we can to federal employees,” Alsobrooks told The Baltimore Sun.

It’s the latest action from a delegation that has often placed itself in the middle of a fight that has benefited no one — least of all Maryland, which has been disproportionately affected by the impact on government workers.

“It’s a smart angle to take,” GOP strategist Brittany Martinez said. “In this moment, everyone is trying to throw things at the wall and see what sticks.”

Maryland has one of the highest concentrations of federal employees of any state in the nation. Between workers, contractors and military personnel, Maryland is home to more than 500,000 government employees, according to Alsobrooks’ office and state estimates.

It’s also one of the most educated states. Roughly 44% of people 25 and older hold at least a bachelor’s degree. Maryland residents are more likely to have student loan debt than most across the country, with about 847,000 borrowers, according to the Education Data Initiative.

The problem is personal for Elfreth. The freshman member still has student loan debt. And after electing to have her pay withheld during the shutdown, she had to adjust to make her payment.

“I was able to make, like, the most minimum payment this month,” Elfreth told The Sun. “But I’m still paying. And so, I think a lot of people are in that same position.”

“If this is one thing we can take off of their plates, that’s what I’d like to do,” Elfreth added.

Titled the “Shutdown Student Loans for Feds Act,” the legislation, exclusively obtained by The Sun, would require the Department of Education to pause student loan payments during a government funding lapse.

It includes multiple provisions. In the event of a government shutdown that lasts beyond two weeks — like the current one — the bill would pause loan payments for all federal employees. There are no caveats for contractors or furloughed employees. All federal workers who are not being paid would benefit.

The loans would not accrue interest when paused and have no impact on a person’s credit. The pause wouldn’t affect loan forgiveness programs. For forgiveness programs, the time passed would be considered as if the pause didn’t happen and payments were made normally.

Alsobrooks plans to introduce the Senate version of the bill on Wednesday. Elfreth, who represents Anne Arundel and Howard counties and partnered with Alsobrooks on the legislation, introduced its corresponding House bill on Tuesday. Alsobrooks and Elfreth also collaborated on legislation just before the shutdown that would pay federal employees who continue to work during the shutdown.

Although Alsobrooks mentioned the possibility of trying to pass the bill by unanimous consent, she isn’t expected to try on Wednesday. The Senate has been conversing on previously introduced federal worker bills, including one introduced last week by Van Hollen. Whether or not those bills gain bipartisan momentum could determine how Alsobrooks proceeds with her bill, a spokesperson for Alsobrooks told The Sun.

Elfreth doubted her bill would be acted on in time to help the current shutdown — Republicans have been gone since before funding lapsed, leaving the House in limbo. But she eyed how it could aid workers in potential future funding stalemates.

The National Federation of Federal Employees, the National Treasury Employees Union and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) endorsed the act.

AFGE President Everett Kelley said it would provide “much-needed financial relief for federal workers impacted by government shutdowns.”

“No public servant should be penalized with mounting student debt while serving their country without pay,” Kelley said in a statement. “This bill offers fairness, dignity, and peace of mind to the federal workforce.”

Maryland lawmakers have frequently advocated during the shutdown for legislation that would aid federal workers. So far, it’s been to no avail.

“I don’t know whether it’s going to stick or not,” Martinez said.

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) announced its new position on Monday through an article published on the organization’s website. The move marked a significant shift; many federal workers in the DMV have supported the refusal of Democrats to vote for the GOP’s clean funding extension during the first month of the shutdown, forming an unofficial alliance with the political party.

AFGE’s call for a clean extension breaks the pattern, shifting its official stance toward the GOP’s proposal.

“Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley wrote. “It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship. Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today.”

Kelley further called for Congress to immediately open the government so they could continue to debate on the larger policy disagreements that have wedged themselves between lawmakers.

Democrats have dug in their heels on funding cuts and rising health care costs during the shutdown, including the expiring Affordable Health Care premium tax credits. Republicans have refused to negotiate on extending the tax credits until the government reopens.

The union calling for Congress to pass a clean funding bill didn’t immediately sway Senate Democrats, who have opposed it. The majority of the caucus, including Maryland’s senators, has voted against the GOP’s clean spending bill more than 10 times.

“I’m committed to immediately reopening the government in a responsible way that prevents the illegal budget actions [President Donald] Trump has taken — including against our federal workers — and stops Americans’ health care costs from exploding,” Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said after the announcement. “In the meantime, I’m also working to immediately pay all our federal employees and prevent this administration’s mass firings. Federal employees did not cause the shutdown, and they should not have to bear the brunt of it.”

Van Hollen told The Sun last week that he plans to work with Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson on a compromise bill to pay federal workers during the shutdown.

“He said he was willing to consider making sure that we pay all federal employees,” Van Hollen said. “They shouldn’t have to be the ones punished for something they had nothing to do with.”

Johnson and Van Hollen both offered bills last week that would allow federal workers to be paid during the shutdown. Johnson’s bill focused on employees who were having to work through the shutdown. Van Hollen’s would have paid all federal employees, including furloughed and contract workers and service members. It would also have prevented additional mass firings.

AFGE represents over 800,000 federal workers. Many missed a full paycheck last week. The shutdown has almost reached its second month — Monday marked its 27th day — and is closing in on becoming the longest shutdown in American history.

“It’s long past time for our leaders to put aside partisan politics and embrace responsible government,” Kelley wrote. “A strong America requires a functioning government — one that pays its bills, honors its commitments, and treats its workforce with respect by paying them on time.”

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.