Thursday's Thrillling Absurdities: Why Would the Federal Government Pay for the Key Bridge Rebuild?

The nation’s airwaves have been filled since Wednesday afternoon with Biden and his appointees like Janet Yellen and Pete Buttigieg pledging that the federal government will foot the entire bill for the salvaging and rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

Unless the US government plans to somehow incorporate this bridge and its associated highway into the US interstate highway system, this is odd. In fact, it is more than odd, it seems unjustifiable. Why should federal taxpayers foot the bill for a state of Maryland bridge that connects to a Maryland state highway?