Biden signs bill giving DC control of RFK Stadium, Bowser says: 'It's officially law'

Mayor Bowser: DC gains control of RFK stadium site

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser confirms that President Joe Biden signed the RFK stadium bill, officially putting it into law that the District holds control over the land that the former Washington Commanders stadium sits on.

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden has signed the bill that gives D.C. control of the RFK Stadium site, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says, effectively opening up the opportunity for the District to lure the Commanders back to town.

FOX 5 spoke with Bowser shortly after she says Biden put his signature on the legislation.

"I just left the White House where the president put his signature on our bill," Bowser told FOX 5 Monday. "So now, it’s officially law and the District controls 177 acres on the Anacostia River. So we’re really excited to take possession of the RFK property."

The bill passed the Senate in a late-night vote – around 1 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21 – shortly before they were set to convene for the winter recess.

All 100 senators had to agree to it. That included the two Democratic senators from Maryland who at one point held the bill up until they got assurances about the future of the Northwest Stadium site should the team leave.

The entire Senate said yes when just hours before, it had seemed that the bill just simply would not pass in this Congressional session.

The bill gives the D.C. control of the 170-acre RFK site for 99 years. It will enable the District to put forth an offer and work to make a deal with the Commanders to entice them to come back to the District.

The NFL and Commanders lobbied for this legislation, as did Mayor Bowser, who has made it clear that she wants to see the team return to D.C.

An unlikely partnership between Bowser and Republican House Oversight Chair James Comer also helped make this a reality.

"I think we had a breakthrough when we testified in front of Chairman Comer and he and Congresswoman Norton introduced this bill. Bipartisan effort. It has been a bipartisan effort throughout the process," Bowser said back in December after the bill passed the Senate.

Now that the legislation has received the president’s approval and has become law, Bowser says the District will be moving forward to begin redeveloping the site.

"Next step is to keep working to make sure everything with the agency at the Department of Interior is what we need, and we’re going to keep planning, talking, talking to the team, talking to stakeholders to get this done for D.C. residents," Bowser told FOX 5.

The White House released an official statement after Biden signed the legislation, saying:

"On Monday, January 6, 2025, the President signed into law:

H.R. 4984, the "D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act," which directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer administrative jurisdiction over the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus to the District of Columbia to allow the District to use the Campus for stadium development, residential and commercial development, and other specified purposes.

Thank you to Representatives Comer and Norton for their leadership."

News Washington, D.C.Washington Commanders