Biden wants money for the Baltimore bridge. Good luck with that

Tuesday saw the catastrophic collision of a cargo ship with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early in the morning. Later in the day, the search for six missing workers who plunged into the water following the bridge’s collapse was called off. The tragedy devastated Baltimore’s working-class Latino immigrant community; those lost were described as “hard-working, humble men.”

In response, President Joe Bidensaid that he had directed his team “to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible.” But he also added that he and authorities in Maryland would “work with our partners in Congress” to get the plan “the support it needs.”

The president’s words are noble to be sure and under normal circumstances, this would spark immediate action. But anyone who has been following the 118th Congress knows normal does not exist.

For one, Congress just had a drawn-out fight about spending. Last week, the House and Senate passed the last of the spending bills for his current fiscal year. Their passage came six months late, thanks to “Florida Man” Matt Gaetz’s decision to file a motion to vacate against former speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy with a band of seven other rebels, prompting every Democrat to join in.

As we all know, that did not lead to regular order or to Republicans passing spending bills on time, but rather three weeks of unmitigated chaos in the House. And as soon as the House finally did pass the spending bills, they rewarded themselves by leaving for a two-week recess.

As I wrote last week, new Speaker Mike Johnson learned he can simply ignore the far-right of his party and simply pass spending bills with the help of most — if not, all — Democrats. But Johnson