Washington is poised to gain greater control of the waterfront swath of property around the rusting RFK Stadium after congressional negotiators included the measure in a must-pass spending package Tuesday evening - a key economic development win for Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and a strategic victory for the Washington Commanders, who want to consider building a new stadium at the site.

At the same time, D.C. is poised to lose all the F-16 fighter jets in its National Guard air division to Maryland.

The inclusion of the dual provisions affecting the nation’s capital came after a remarkable run of negotiating over the RFK legislation, as Maryland lawmakers, wary of the economic loss caused by the Commanders’ potential departure to D.C., sought to secure wins for their state as well - including securing full funding to rebuild the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.

All three provisions - the RFK Stadium site’s revitalization, the transfer of a D.C. Air National Guard squadron to Maryland and full funding for the bridge - are included in a stopgap funding bill that must pass this week to avoid a government shutdown.

But for D.C., the inclusion of the RFK provision puts a years-long, major economic development goal for the mayor as close to the finish line as ever after numerous attempts to advance the legislation in Congress during her tenure. Reacting to the news, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said the redevelopment of more than 170 acres of federal parkland along the Anacostia River - which she has envisioned could include retail, housing and recreation, anchored by the stadium - will “benefit the entire region.”

“As a city, we have worked for years toward the opportunity to transform a vacant, blighted sea of asphalt in the heart of DC and to put the RFK campus back to productive use,” Bowser said in a statement. “Today, we are pleased and grateful to congressional leaders for advancing this critical bipartisan legislation that recognizes the potential of the land.”

While D.C. had the most to gain from the legislation, negotiations were dominated in these final days by Maryland - the state that had the most to lose.

At various points, the multilayered negotiations went far beyond RFK Stadium as Maryland leaders roped the National Guard fighter jets, funding for the collapsed Key Bridge and the future of the current Commanders stadium in Maryland into the discussions.

They came away with both the jets and the bridge funding - major wins that Maryland leaders had long been seeking independently of the RFK negotiations. The stopgap funding bill, which will keep the federal government operational through mid-March, gives Maryland full federal funding to rebuild the Key Bridge, estimated to cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion.

In a joint statement, Maryland Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen said, “This all-hands-on-deck approach was necessary to face a catastrophe of the magnitude we experienced in Baltimore on March 26.” They added that the funding “will allow the bridge it to be built as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile, Maryland and the Commanders have been working out a deal about what would happen to the existing stadium in Landover. If the measure passes as expected, it would give D.C. control over the RFK property for 99 years and expand how it could be redeveloped, effectively opening the door for Bowser to negotiate a deal with the team to leave behind Northwest Stadium in Landover, where the team has played since 1997, and bring it back to its old home.

Any deal with the team must go through a divided D.C. Council, and Maryland leaders have vowed to compete to keep the team within state borders.

The RFK legislation - which the city has advocated in some form for years - was introduced in summer 2023 by Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), the chairman of the powerful House Oversight Committee, who helped rally GOP support for the bill. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) co-sponsored the bill.

“This landmark legislation will unlock the District’s full potential, generate meaningful new jobs, and add millions in additional city revenue for the nation’s capital,” Comer, whose committee oversees D.C. in Congress, said in a statement celebrating its inclusion.

In recent weeks, hurdles arose for the RFK bill after Maryland leaders, themselves wooing the team’s new stadium project, objected. They argued that if the federal government allowed D.C. to redevelop the land at no cost, D.C. would have an unfair advantage in the regional competition for the next stadium - envisioned as a multibillion-dollar entertainment destination wherever it is constructed.

Maryland’s objections led to the team making written promises about how it would redevelop and deconstruct the stadium in Landover so that it did not become another rusting and abandoned former football stadium. The state’s other chief priorities in Congress became layered into negotiations, prompting Bowser to say last week at a closed-door meeting with business and civic leaders, “We’re being held hostage by Maryland.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) refused to countersign the written promises negotiated with the Commanders about redeveloping the existing stadium until minutes before the text of the continuing resolution was released to the public - a full week after the Commanders agreed to them.

“Our position on the stadium hasn’t changed,” Moore said Tuesday night. “We are not afraid of competition, and we believe that we can continue to build on decades of partnership with the team here in Maryland. We are confident that Landover is still the best, and the fastest, path to a new stadium for the Washington Commanders.”

Maryland sought full federal funding to replace the Key Bridge, a top priority for Moore and both of the state’s U.S. senators. The spending bill reiterated existing regulations that say all money won in legal action against the owner and operator of the cargo ship that crashed into the bridge would go to the federal Transportation Department and not the state.

The state also sought the transfer of D.C.’s Air National Guard 121st Fighter Squadron into the Maryland Air National Guard, a push that predated the RFK negotiations. The U.S. Air Force announced plans in March to convert the state’s air squadron into one with cyber responsibilities on the ground. The Maryland governor controls the state’s National Guard, but in D.C., it’s the president, not the mayor, who controls Washington’s Guard.

“We appreciate the support of our partners in Maryland for their collaboration in strengthening the vitality of our region,” Bowser said.

While the Commanders have tried for years to leave what is regarded as one of the worst venues in the National Football League, they failed to secure key legislation for sites in Virginia and struggled to get the RFK bill through Congress in past years. But they always felt the nostalgic tug of RFK, where many fans cheered the team during its glory years that included three Super Bowl wins. Team executives have called the site the “spiritual home” of the team.

Commanders majority owner Josh Harris - who grew up going to RFK Stadium as well - has said he wants to build a new stadium by 2030 but has been careful to avoid publicly naming a preferred site.

A Commanders spokesperson declined to comment on the legislation’s progress.

“This bill is about creating an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of [the] Washington Commanders can be fairly considered,” Peter Drummond, a team spokesman, said in a statement last week.

That framing contrasted with Maryland’s view - fueling Maryland leaders’ push to secure concessions from the team.

Meanwhile, Moore’s administration and Cardin and Van Hollen were working to get the state’s priorities of securing Key Bridge funding and gaining control of the D.C. Air National Guard squadron addressed.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) - not wanting to get caught in the middle of the regional competition - met with Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and told them an agreement with Maryland’s U.S. senators must be reached before the RFK legislation could proceed.

If the legislation is successful, the RFK site could be one of the city’s largest economic development projects in recent history - joining the ranks of Walter Reed and the Wharf.

Any stadium incentive deal Bowser strikes with Commanders ownership would require approval from the D.C. Council, where lawmakers are split on using taxpayer money to fund football stadium construction.

The neighborhood near RFK, too, is split on whether to support a stadium at all, given the traffic and parking headaches that occurred when the team played there from 1961 to 1996.

But lawmakers have been unanimous in support of the federal legislation.

“With this transfer of land at RFK Stadium back to the District, we reclaim our ability to focus on creating spaces for our residents,” D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) wrote in a tweet on the X social media site. “The opportunities are wide ranging - with housing, recreation space, transit, and yes, our teams! Thank you, Congress - the future is boundless!”

Jacob Bogage contributed to this report.

previous coverage

• Maryland seeks Washington’s Air National Guard squadron in RFK deal