Citing national security and counterterrorism costs, U.S. senators from Maryland and Virginia are urging the Biden administration to include funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in its FY2025 budget request.
U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin (both D-MD) joined Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) to urging the administration to include at least $30 million in FY25 to help WMATA address operational costs related to national security and counterterrorism. The request comes as WMATA faces a $750 million budget shortfall that could impact services as soon as next summer.
The Congressmen said a majority of the agency’s 19.6 million riders work for the federal government and more than a third of its Metrorail stations are located on federal property. Two stations on Capitol Hill serve members of Congress and their staff, while WMATA also serves other facilities in the national interest like the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.
Because of its one-of-a-kind role in federal government operations and national security activities, the senators said, the agency shoulders a heavier burden that other transit authorities.
“Given this (unique) role played by WMATA, it should come as no surprise that the agency shoulders some burdens that are unique among transit providers. Perhaps most important of these burdens is WMATA’s responsibility to prevent terrorism targeting our Nation’s capital—a responsibility far out of proportion to the size of the system,” the senators wrote.
WMATA estimates it spends between $30 and $33 million annually on national security and counterterrorism.
“Unfortunately, this responsibility is more than hypothetical,” they wrote. “In 2010, an anti-government extremist opened fire at the Pentagon station. A year later, a man was convicted in connection with the targeting of four WMATA stations in a terrorist bomb plot. And let us not forget that it was a Metro Transit Police officer who, while assisting Capitol Police, discovered the bomb planted at the Democratic National Committee on January 6, 2021.”