Transportation Sec. Buttigieg says gov't must 'tear down' barriers to rebuild Baltimore bridge

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared on "America's Newsroom" Wednesday to discuss his visit to the site of the Baltimore bridge collapse and ongoing recovery efforts.

Buttigieg said the Department of Transportation's immediate goal is to clear the channel in Baltimore Harbor and restore shipping access to the port.

"Of course, the ultimate goal is to clear that channel, get that port back up and running as quickly as possible. But that's not going to happen overnight. So we've got to deal with the implications," Buttigieg said.

The secretary observed that it took five years to build the Francis Scott Key Bridge before it opened in 1977 and said there is not yet an estimate of how long it will take to rebuild.

"The president made it very clear that every tool that the federal government needs to be available to Governor Wes Moore as the state of Maryland leads the work on both the bridge and the port," he told "America's Newsroom." 

"We've got to make sure that funding is not an obstacle, and we're going to make sure that we tear down any administrative barriers, too. And that's going to require a lot of work. We're going to do everything we can as a department that does not require an act of Congress. But we're also going to engage Congress because we will likely need their help to make sure some of the funding is in place."