Senate Update: Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025
As 2024 comes to an end, I wanted to give you one last update on the 118th Congress. After many difficult months, we passed a bipartisan compromise to keep the federal government open, help disaster victims, and fully fund the replacement of the Key Bridge.
If this month was any preview, we’re in for a chaotic four years. But we still delivered key wins for the people of Maryland – from providing federal funding for the Key Bridge project to finally passing the Social Security Fairness Act. Here are some highlights:
Keeping the Government Open to Serve Americans
One of Congress’s central responsibilities is to fund the federal government. And while we had a bipartisan compromise deal to do so, we hit a sudden snag with days to go. Elon Musk and Donald Trump sent House Republicans into a delay spiral – bringing us back to governing by tweet. Despite the Republican chaos that brought us dangerously close to a government shutdown just before the holidays, I’m glad we were able to reach an 11th-hour bipartisan agreement. This legislation will move the Key Bridge replacement forward while providing relief to other communities across the country hit by disasters. It also prevents a government shutdown, ensuring that federal employees can continue to provide the country with vital services and receive paychecks for the work they do on behalf of the American people. That being said, I was disappointed that once again our Republican colleagues chose a short-term patch, instead of passing a year-long funding bill that would truly meet the shifting priorities of our nation and our state. This means that come March, we’ll once again need to work towards a long-term spending bill, where I’ll continue fighting to deliver for Maryland.
We also achieved other bipartisan priorities in the final weeks. That included passing the annual National Defense Authorization Act, legislation that invests in our military installations and the men and women of our armed forces and is important to maintaining our national security. While there were many things within this legislation I did not support, I voted in favor of the bill as it will support our servicemembers – including a significant pay raise for junior enlisted members – as well as our local Maryland installations.
We also passed the Social Security Fairness Act, bipartisan legislation I cosponsored, to ensure public sector workers and their families can receive full Social Security benefits. For over forty years, a pair of laws from the 70s and 80s have reduced Social Security benefits for public workers, from first responders to teachers to food safety inspectors. These workers paid into Social Security for their entire lives; it’s just plain wrong for them to receive anything less than full benefits. For years, we’re been trying to fix this issue. This bill will secure full Social Security benefits for 3 million Americans, including over 54,000 Marylanders. They served our country. They deserve to retire with dignity.
I’m also proud to report that the Senate unanimously passed our Chesapeake National Recreation Act. This legislation, which Congressman Sarbanes and I introduced after a months-long public feedback process, would unite voluntarily contributed park areas and Bay properties as a national recreation area under the National Park Service. This will help the Bay get more federal resources to conserve our environment, celebrate our Bay history and culture, and support sustainable economic opportunity. The Chesapeake Bay is both a Maryland and a national treasure, and it deserves to be recognized as such. While there was not enough time to get a vote on the bill in the House before adjournment, we have built tremendous momentum – which should help us get it adopted in the next Congress.
Rebuilding the Key Bridge
For 47 years, the Key Bridge has been a vital thoroughfare for the Baltimore region and national commerce. It carried over 34,000 travelers a day, and stood as the gateway to the Port of Baltimore, which each year welcomes 1,800 ships, supports over 27,000 local jobs, and generates $70 billion in revenue. When the bridge collapsed, it was not only a local tragedy, but a national one. We lost six Baltimore construction workers who were working the overnight shift. Thousands of longshoremen were temporarily put out of work or faced greatly diminished hours. Every small business and industry that depended on the Port of Baltimore faced disruptions. And today, many communities and Marylanders are impacted by the burden of taking longer, more congested routes without the Key Bridge.
But as the bridge came apart, we came together.
A heroic officer of the Maryland Transportation Authority stopped traffic from crossing the bridge moments before it collapsed, saving lives, and other first responders saved two workers who survived the collapse. President Biden directed the Coast Guard to lead a Unified Command of local, state, and federal agencies. It was a whole-of-government effort: I’m grateful to Governor Moore, Mayor Scott, County Executive Olszewski, and every other leader who stepped up. Senator Cardin, Congressman Mfume and I worked with Team Maryland to continue the federal response – we quickly secured emergency highway funding to aid in the recovery effort. Members of the Unified Command recovered the bodies of six fallen construction workers, then worked rapidly to clear the debris from the shipping channel and re-open the Port of Baltimore in just 11 weeks.
While work on the ground was underway, we were also busy in Congress fighting to shore up the support Maryland needed to secure full federal funding to rebuild the bridge. In April, Senator Cardin, Congressman Mfume, and I, joined by the full Team Maryland, introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to secure 100% federal funding for the replacement. Our bill also ensured that any proceeds from insurance claims or litigation would go back to the federal taxpayers. Time and again, we have supported other states in their times of great need, so we argued, now it was time for these states to have our back as well. After much drama, they came through and embraced the time-honored American spirit of helping neighbors in their hour of need.
PSA: Protect Your Family from Online Scams
One danger we all face is online scams – right now, my team is hearing from more and more Marylanders ensnared by fraud. There are tech support scams, in which criminals pose as tech support representatives to gain access to victims’ computers, and investment fraud, in which fraudsters lure their victims with a seemingly lucrative investment plan.
The scammers are growing more sophisticated every day, many using cryptocurrency to funnel your money overseas and make it almost impossible to get it back. In some cases, they slowly build trust with their intended targets online, posing as a new friend or even a romantic interest. To stay safe, don’t share sensitive personal or financial information online, especially with someone you’ve never met in real life. Maryland saw almost 2,000 reported victims in 2023, losing around $72.4 million. Many more have not come forward.
To protect yourself from scams, the FBI says that your best defense is “healthy skepticism.” Scammers want you to react quickly; always remember to slow down. If you get a suspicious message, don’t respond immediately – take a beat. To learn more about staying safe, click here to visit the FBI’s webpage. If you believe you may be the target of a scam, you can file a complaint by clicking here and visiting the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. I’m also working to take action in Congress to help tackle this issue. To protect Americans from fraud, I’ve authored bipartisan legislation that would help crack down on scams. Our bill, the Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act, would give states more resources to investigate scammers, upgrade technology, enhance training, and raise public awareness of the latest threats.
Whether it’s on one of these issues – or dozens of others – my office is always ready to serve Marylanders and provide assistance. Click here to learn what our office can do for you. Don’t hesitate to reach out if we can ever be of service.
Our Thanks to Senator Cardin
Senator Cardin has been a great friend and wonderful partner in the U.S. Senate. Here is a testimonial video we prepared in his honor.
And Thank You!
It’s clear that the year ahead will present new challenges. In all the battles to come, I’ll be glad to have Team Maryland – especially my new partner, Senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks – working with me on behalf of all Marylanders and our fellow Americans. And thank you for being fully engaged in advancing our great American experiment in democracy. Together, we will work to ensure that our brightest days are still ahead.
Happy New Year!
Chris Van Hollen |