WASHINGTON — On a chaotic day at the Capitol, Maryland Democrats scrambled to ensure Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement funding remained in a catch-all spending bill that — in a two-day period — was endorsed and rejected by House Republicans who announced a new deal Thursday afternoon.

The new agreement contained the federal commitment sought by Maryland lawmakers to pay the full cost of replacing the Francis Scott Key Bridge following its March collapse, according to a Senate aide who requested anonymity because no announcement had been made yet.

But another Maryland priority — making it easier for the NFL’s Washington Commanders to potentially move back to the District of Columbia — is not included in the new package, according to the aide. That provision was part of an agreement under which the team was to pay to redevelop the area surrounding the team’s current Prince George’s County stadium if the club left.

Congress faces a Friday night deadline to pass the stopgap measure preventing a government shutdown that would disproportionately affect the state because of its thousands of federal workers.

The 1,547-page measure was unveiled by House Republicans Tuesday night and promptly rejected by the GOP Wednesday after a string of critical social media posts by billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser and ally of Republican President-elect Donald Trump. Musk, citing a pay increase for Congress among other objections, called the bill “dead,” and some House Republicans appeared ready to try to unseat Speaker Mike Johnson.

“The House Republicans need to get their house in order,” Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen told The Baltimore Sun on Thursday. “We had an agreement, and a tweet started by Elon Musk shouldn’t cause House Republicans to shake in their boots. We cannot have government by tweet.”

Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a Democrat, told The Baltimore Sun the spending package, called a continuing resolution, or CR, “was a good agreement. It still is.”

The measure’s rejection, Mfume quipped, “is a good look at what President Musk and Vice President Trump are up to.”

But Thursday afternoon, Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole, the House Appropriations Committee chair, told reporters a new agreement had been struck.

No details were immediately available, and it was uncertain if Democrats had signed off or if enough rank and file Republicans would endorse the bill to secure passage.

All of Maryland’s eight U.S. House members and two senators are Democrats except for GOP Rep. Andy Harris, whose district includes Harford County and the Eastern Shore. He did not respond to messages sent to his office on Thursday.

The race to keep the government funded came as the offices of retiring lawmakers — such as longtime Baltimore County Democratic Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger — had already been cleared of furniture and equipment so new members could begin preparations to move in.

The exit from his Rayburn House Office Building suite — which commands a view of the Capitol — left Ruppersberger, who has held public office for nearly 40 years, working remotely.

“We are working around the clock to assist constituents with open casework but are unable to open any new ones without access to our House-issued technology,” said Ruppersberger spokesperson Jaime Lennon. “I’m still calling and emailing constituents.”

Sen. Ben Cardin and Maryland Reps. John Sarbanes and David Trone, all Democrats, are also stepping down although Cardin and other senators were not required to pack up yet. Their terms end when the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.

Cardin, who has two weeks remaining in his 18-year Senate career, joked Thursday: “I’m glad to see it’s going to be a typical end to a legislative session.”

He and other Maryland lawmakers have pushed for months to ensure a federal commitment to 100% Key Bridge funding.

Federal highways are generally funded with 90% federal money and 10% from the affected state. But Marylanders say a 100% federal cost share is consistent with prior federal responses to such disasters. The new bridge cost is estimated at $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion.

“I don’t think this is holding up an agreement,” Cardin told The Sun of the bridge funding. “I think we still have the support network.”

A government shutdown would be “a devastating blow” to federal workers and others who depend on government services, the nation’s largest union of federal employees said Thursday.

Such a hit could have an outsized effect in Maryland, where roughly 160,000 civilian federal workers would be at risk of furlough or working without pay around the holidays.

“The prospect of a lengthy government shutdown is nothing short of a Christmas gift to America’s adversaries and a lump of coal in the stockings of the American people,” Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement.

The union represents about 30,000 workers in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia. It represents thousands more who work elsewhere but are employed by agencies headquartered in Maryland, like the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

A shutdown, Mayor Brandon Scott said Thursday, would affect the Key Bridge “but will also impact the people who live in Baltimore who work for the federal government, and their families’ ability to get food. It will impact people’s ability to get services.”

Maryland lawmakers also sought — unsuccessfully, the Senate aide added — to preserve language relating to the Commanders’ potential relocation.

The Commanders and Washington elected officials have long expressed interest in the team returning to the RFK Stadium site where it played until moving to Landover in 1997. Because the RFK Stadium site is under federal control, legislation would be needed to allow the land to be developed with a new stadium and other projects.

On Wednesday, Musk reposted a message falsely alleging — until it was edited — that the spending package contained billions of dollars for a new Commanders stadium. The measure does not include stadium funding.

Maryland lawmakers also hope to preserve language granting its request to receive one of Washington’s two Air National Guard squadrons. The Senate aide that language was not contained in the latest agreement.

Maryland has been trying to persuade the Air Force to preserve a flight mission in the state because the military is phasing out its A-10 “Warthog” attack aircraft, and no aircraft was designated to replace them.

(Sam Janesch and Carson Swick contributed to this article.)

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