Joe Maloney commiserates with BMitch & Finlay about the RFK bill getting cut by the Senate
The spending bill that the RFK legislation was in has been modified so much over the last couple days, and now, the part giving DC back control of that land isn’t in there.
So, as the Commanders’ new stadium quest takes another turn, BMitch and Finlay turned to an insider on both fronts for a little explanation: Joe Maloney, the former Commanders VP of Public Affairs & Strategic Communications who is now the SVP of those silos for the American Gaming Association.
“I think this is extremely disappointing. The way I felt yesterday was, I would describe it as devastating for something that a lot of stakeholders that care about this community, that care about this city, that truly prize what this organization has meant for the city and its region and what RFK represents,” Maloney said. “A year ago, we were on Radio Row after the House voted overwhelmingly to pass this legislation, and I said we just had a really good kickoff return, but we're still on our side of the field; we advanced all the way to the one-yard line yesterday, and I still cannot describe how this all happened. It feels devastating. “I can sympathize because I know what this tract of land actually means to both of you and to all the fans.”
Down to the one, but Maloney gives this barely a 10 percent chance of passing before the legislative session ends in a couple weeks.
“There's still a chance, gentlemen, but I think we all have reason to feel kind of down about this,” Maloney said. “I'd probably give it less than 10 percent; I think there's still a shot of getting it in, but to use a football analogy, it’s like being on the one-yard line but we took a sack on second down and a holding penalty on second and long, and we wasted precious time on the clock. There’s just so many things that are pushing us further and further back from the goal line, all of which are completely out of our control.”
That 10 percent chance is right now, so there’s always a different conversation that could be had in 2025, even as the spending bill in some form has to be voted on by midnight to avoid a government shutdown, but it’s just another instance of kicking a can down a road it has seen for a long time.
“This is something that folks have worked on for 10 years, put in an enormous amount of work, but Dan Snyder masqueraded in and out of this issue, and that probably wasn't helpful, and then you could say the team name made it difficult in 2018 and 2019,” Maloney said. “In 2021, when I started with the club, it was like, put your head down and let's do the work and let's figure out the ways to get this done, and there's been an enormous amount of time and resources invested. The Mayor and her team who have done an admirable job, it’s got to be exhausting, but they’re gonna stay committed and run through the tape here.”
JP doesn’t see it happening now, but both he and Maloney think something could happen quickly in 2025 once the new President is inaugurated, given his proclivities…assuming key stakeholders are in.
“I like the club and the city’s chances in a Trump administration, but there's still the first article of the Constitution, which is about the legislative branch, and you still have to get a deal done with the legislative branch,” Maloney said. “As we know, the legislative branch has consistently been a problem on this issue, and it's been just very hard to get a deal done. We literally found a savior in Chairman Comer, and had a wonderful and participatory stakeholder in Joe Manchin, the jurisdictional authority on these types of issues in the Senate, but he’s not leaving, so we're starting from scratch in the Senate on this now. It's really hard to get this construct through the legislative branches.”
In that realm, here’s what Maloney would say to the incoming administration:
“The RFK transfer very much in line with the incoming administration's focus on reducing costs and the federal government's footprint. These 170 acres sits under federal government possession and costs the federal government money, with continual upkeep and maintenance and repairing areas that still are environmentally sensitive that we put taxpayer dollars towards and protecting,” Maloney said. “All of these things are going to be taken off of the backs of the federal government and will go to the District of Columbia, who will then probably have all of these things rehabilitated and have the decrepit rusted structure taken down with the help of private capital investments. So, this as a policy is very much in keeping with their Department of Government Efficiency, so I think we can really, really hammer that nail here that this is something that is very and largely consistent with the ideological viewpoints.”
