Senate passes RFK Stadium bill

The RFK Stadium bill, as an add-on to the effort to avoid a government shutdown, died.

The RFK Stadium bill, as a separate piece of legislation that had been working its way through Congress, lives.

It a stunning, late-night turn, the U.S. Senate passed the measure by unanimous consent.

The bill gives D.C. control of the 170-acre site of the former home of the Commanders franchise, for 99 years. It becomes law when signed by President Biden.

Via the Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) included the bill among various items he brought to the floor. He sought unanimous consent on the entire package, and he got it. No one objected, including Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who has argued that D.C. should have to pay for land owned by the federal government.

The standalone bill previously had been passed by the House of Representatives. It allows D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser to negotiate with the Commanders the terms of a deal that would build a stadium there.

It's a huge win for the NFL and Commanders, giving them a bird in the hand as they wait to see whether fatter birds emerge in Maryland or Virginia.

It's a loss for Elon Musk, who used the massive social-media platform he purchased to oppose the inclusion of the RFK Stadium bill in the broader measure aimed at keeping the federal government going. Musk opposed the use of taxpayer money for the project.

In response, many correctly pointed out that the bill doesn't involve a single taxpayer dollar. There are two flaws in that argument. That being said, the federal land could have been leased for 99 years at a price, with the money going into taxpayer coffers. Also, unless the entire construction of a new stadium in D.C. will be financed by the Commanders, the NFL, and/or other private interests, it eventually will entail taxpayer money.

That's a basic prerequisite of NFL stadium politics. It's the NFL's version of the Human Fund; Money for People (Who Don't Need It). Politicians cite the tax revenue flowing from games and other events as justification for the tax expenditure, even if it never truly balances out.

The problem is that the public's mood has sharply turned against subsidizing the billionaires who own major-league sports teams. And it might catch the member of Club Oligarch in the gears of the incoming administration's desire to help the rich and to minimize waste.