{"id":2213752,"date":"2024-04-05T12:15:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T16:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freedom-caucus-demands-reversal-of-lng-pause-before-congress-approves-bridge-collapse-funding\/"},"modified":"2024-04-05T12:15:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T16:15:26","slug":"freedom-caucus-demands-reversal-of-lng-pause-before-congress-approves-bridge-collapse-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freedom-caucus-demands-reversal-of-lng-pause-before-congress-approves-bridge-collapse-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom Caucus insists on reversing LNG pause prior to Congress approving funding for bridge collapse repairs"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffreedom-caucus-demands-reversal-of-lng-pause-before-congress-approves-bridge-collapse-funding%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2213752&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Joe Biden&#8217;s request for federal relief following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore \u2063is met\u2064 with \u2062conditions by \u2062the House Freedom Caucus. They demand full cost offset and a reversal of the LNG export\u200d pause before considering emergency \u2063funding. The group seeks waivers of regulations and insists on \u200dfunding solely for structural\u2064 repairs.\u200c Speaker Mike Johnson&#8217;s efforts to use the LNG pause\u200c as leverage are echoed by the Freedom Caucus.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>President Joe Biden\u2019s biggest Republican foes in the House are not outright rejecting his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/2945725\/congress-weighs-federal-dollars-baltimore-bridge-collapse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>request for federal relief<\/a> as he travels to Baltimore on Friday to inspect the site of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/infrastructure\/2950077\/baltimore-bridge-collapse-latest-crisis-wes-moore-pressure-maryland-lawmakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse<\/a> \u2014 but it won\u2019t come for free, they say.<\/p>\n<p>The House <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/freedom-caucus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Freedom Caucus<\/a> released its position on whether federal funding should be made available for reconstructing the bridge, which fell down after a cargo ship crashed into it last week. The group said its members would require a series of concessions, including the cost being fully offset and, most notably, a reversal of the president\u2019s pause in liquefied natural gas exports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore Congress considers any emergency supplemental funding for the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, it\u2019s important that (1) we first seek maximum liability from the foreign shipping companies upfront and (2) the Port of Baltimore draws upon already available federal funds,\u201d the group said in a statement articulating its position.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>In their statement, the hard-line Republicans demanded that \u201cburdensome regulations\u201d such as the National Environmental Policy Act or the Endangered Species Act be waived in order to \u201cavoid all unnecessary delays and costs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group is also adamant that the funding is limited to only physical structural repairs rather than a \u201cpork-filled bill loaded with unrelated projects.\u201d As such, the group is pushing to follow the \u201csingle-subject rule,\u201d which would require requests to be made individually.<\/p>\n<p>The Freedom Caucus is also echoing Speaker Mike Johnson\u2019s (R-LA) attempts to use the LNG pause as leverage in congressional negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Biden, who is under pressure to address the effects of climate change, has justified the pause as allowing the administration to evaluate the effects on the climate and environment of exporting such a \u201csizable\u201d amount of gas. It also permits the administration to consider the economic and national security effects of new LNG export facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have decried the decision, with Johnson floating a reversal of the policy as a deal sweetener for the approval of further Ukraine aid. Now, hard-line Republicans are seeking to use it as leverage in funding talks over bridge collapse as well.<\/p>\n<p>The recent statement comes as Biden is set to visit the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Friday, when he is expected to call on Congress \u201cto join us in demonstrating our commitment to aid in recovery efforts by authorizing a 100 percent Federal cost share for rebuilding the bridge,\u201d according to a letter White House Budget Director Shalanda Young wrote to Congress. Such a request would be consistent with previous authorizations to clean up bridge collapses, including in 2007, when Congress approved funds for the I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota, she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the Administration pursues its work to clean up wreckage, clear the channel, and rebuild the bridge, all avenues to recover the costs of past, current, and future work will continue to be pursued and the Administration will ensure that any compensation for damages or insurance proceeds collected will reduce costs for the American people,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/f\/?id=0000018e-ada0-d83a-afae-eff1132c0000&#038;nname=playbook&#038;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&#038;nrid=94e33886-ef3d-4276-81c4-b248c43f5073&#038;nlid=630318\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Young wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The debate over funding for the bridge is expected to pick up in earnest when Congress returns from recess next week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden&#8217;s top Republican adversaries in the House aren&#8217;t dismissing his plea for federal aid as he heads to Baltimore to survey the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, but they emphasize it won&#8217;t be without conditions. The House Freedom Caucus has stated its stance regarding federal assistance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2640,"featured_media":2213753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP24094805392049-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2213752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP24094805392049-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2213752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2213753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2213752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2213752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2213752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}