The U.S. Senate has passed a bill granting control of the old RFK Stadium site to the District of Columbia, a last-minute passage that helps clear the way for the Washington Commanders to potentially move back to the city.

The passage early Saturday comes after a provision to transfer control of the land from the federal government to D.C. was removed from Congress’ slimmed-down, short-term spending bill as lawmakers raced to pass it before a government shutdown.

Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris praised the passage, saying in a statement: “We are extremely grateful that our elected officials have come together on a bipartisan basis to give Washington D.C. the opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK stadium site. This bill will create an even playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans.”

The Commanders are considering locations in the District, Maryland and Virginia to build a stadium in the coming years. Their lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, runs through 2027, and Harris called 2030 a “reasonable target” for a new one.

The team played at RFK Stadium two miles east of the Capitol from 1961 to 1996 before moving to Maryland. Harris and several co-owners, including Mitch Rales and Mark Ein, grew up as Washington football fans during that era, which included the glory days of three Super Bowl championships between 1982 and 1991.

The bill will transfer administrative jurisdiction of the RFK site from the Secretary of the Interior to the D.C. government. While the federal government will still own the land, D.C. will be able to redevelop the land for a stadium, commercial and residential development and other public purposes, according to the office of U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, who introduced the bill.

“The Senate’s passage of the D.C. RFK Stadium Campus Revitalization Act is a historic moment for our nation’s capital,” Comer said in a statement Saturday. “If Congress failed to act today, this decaying land in Washington would continue to cost taxpayers a fortune to maintain. Revitalizing this RFK Memorial Stadium site has been a top economic priority for the city, and I am proud to have partnered with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to get this bill across the finish line and to the President’s desk.”

The U.S. House passed the bill in February. With the bill’s passage in the Senate as well, it now heads to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

“This is a win for DC, for our region, and for America,” Bowser wrote in a social media post Saturday morning. “Everybody loves a good comeback story — and that’s DC’s story.”

News4 is awaiting comment from D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

As Hanukkah celebrations approach, security at synagogues, community centers and schools in the D.C. area is a concern.

“Something we always say: Security is a process, not a product,” said Rusty Rosenthal, director of community security with JShield, the in-house security department of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.

That JShield exists speaks volumes.

Houses of worship try to maintain an open-door policy, mindful, though, of how those with ill intent can exploit such a policy.

“Now, the institutions have better doors, and they keep the doors closed, and there’s locks and there’s cameras keeping an eye on things,” Rosenthal said.

JShield has been around for about a year and is responsible for community security throughout the greater D.C. area.

“We have an intelligence analyst that helps monitor all of the various incidents and any nefarious chatter that might be out there targeting our events, or our facilities or our people. And obviously, there’s plenty of that these days,” Rosenthal said.

He said he believes American Jews are having to cope with security considerations already familiar to some Jewish communities abroad.

“You see institutions and synagogues in Europe or South America, and they look a lot differently than they do here,” he said. “I mean they’re in walled-in compounds with locked gates. So, it’s really not new generally, but it’s a little bit more of a culture shift here in the United States.”

Communities are trying to respond to difficult times without overshadowing a season of celebration.

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – With a government shutdown possible and the holidays approaching, people who rely on steady paychecks could be left to make some tough decisions.

“If Republicans do not work with Democrats in a bipartisan way very soon, the government will shut down at midnight.” Democratic Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, on Friday, putting the political ball in the Republicans court.

The goal? Passing a funding bill by the end of the day.

Services like homeland security, transportation, veterans affairs, and the social security administration will shut down as well. That leaves nearly 1.5 million federal employees without money for bills, food, and the holidays.

“They reached a deal but then they released a text to their members and there was a lot of pushback, including pushback from the incoming president.”

Pushback is what sank the deal, according to MSU political science expert Matt Grossmann.

Now, the House and Senate have to reach some kind of agreement, so the government has money to operate and pay its employees in 2025.

“This is seen as the last train leaving the station for the year and so everybody wanted to put additional things on this bill.” Grossmann said, “The Democrats wanted something so the Republicans wanted something and it got longer and longer.”

According Democratic Senator Gary Peters, a bipartisan agreement to keep the government open was already set.

“One thing that our agreed bill did,” Peters said, “Was provide emergency funding to many of the communities that have been hit by natural disasters that we have seen.”

Republican Congressman Mike Johnson, on Thursday, recalling last spring when he said Democrats berated Republicans, saying it’s irresponsible to hold the debt limit hostage:

“It’s very disappointing to us that all but two Democrats voted against aid to farmers and ranchers, against disaster relief, against all these bipartisan measures that had already been negotiated and decided upon again. The only difference in this legislation was that we would push the debt ceiling to January of 2027.”

There are still a few hours left to avoid a government shutdown. The House and Senate have until midnight to reach an agreement.

If not, a lot of federal services will close and workers won’t see a paycheck.

The House is planning to vote soon.

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