Rep. Donald Beyer condemned a GOP proposal to move Arlington and Alexandria into D.C. after Virginia voters approved a new Democratic-backed map.
Rep. Donald Beyer sharply criticized a Republican proposal to return Arlington and Alexandria to Washington, D.C., casting the bill as a political response to Virginia voters’ approval of a new Democratic-backed congressional map.
The proposal from Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., called the “Make D.C. Square Again Act,” would seek to restore the District of Columbia’s original 100-square-mile footprint by reversing the 1846 retrocession that brought what is now Arlington County and the city of Alexandria back into Virginia.
The fight matters because those Northern Virginia communities are heavily Democratic and sit inside Beyer’s district, along with parts of southern Fairfax. McCormick has argued that roughly 250,000 votes in Arlington and Alexandria should be counted as part of Washington, not Virginia. Beyer, D-Va., said the plan would strip hundreds of thousands of his constituents of voting power in federal elections because D.C. residents lack voting representation in Congress.
“Rich McCormick’s bill is an embarrassing legislative tantrum,” Beyer told Fox News Digital, calling the proposal unconstitutional and a waste of time. He said Republicans angry about Virginia’s redistricting referendum “have no one to blame but themselves.”
McCormick’s bill targets one of the oldest boundary disputes in the capital region. Alexandria County, which later became Arlington County and Alexandria, was returned to Virginia in the 19th century amid disputes over local governance, economic grievances and tensions over Alexandria’s slave trade. Later efforts to undo that move failed in the Senate, though the idea drew support at points from figures including Abraham Lincoln and William Howard Taft.
McCormick argues that the Constitution’s Enclave Clause leaves D.C.’s boundaries under congressional authority and does not authorize returning District territory to states. In a statement on the bill, he said the measure “restores the District of Columbia as the Founders envisioned it.”
Legal and political objections are already part of the dispute. Former assistant U.S. attorney and Heritage Foundation fellow Zack Smith has described the original retrocession as legally problematic, while also arguing that the history should not be used to radically alter D.C.’s boundaries and status through simple legislation. A spokesperson for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger also rejected the proposal, saying Republicans in Congress should focus on costs facing families rather than moving Arlington and Alexandria out of Virginia.
Some Republicans in Virginia have endorsed the idea. Del. Wren Williams of Patrick County told Fox News Digital he supports the measure and said the state should resolve what he called an inconsistency in the capital’s boundaries.
For now, the bill’s path is uncertain. If it advanced, removing Arlington and Alexandria from Virginia could disrupt the new Democratic-backed map, which relies on Northern Virginia’s dense blue suburbs along with urban centers such as Richmond, Norfolk and Charlottesville. Whether the proposal gains traction in Congress, survives legal challenges or moves beyond a redistricting fight remains unresolved.
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