In a move that instantly stirred up Northern Virginia politics, Rep. Rich McCormick (R‑Ga.) this week rolled out the "Make DC Square Again Act," a bill aimed at undoing the 1846 retrocession and pulling Arlington County and the City of Alexandria back inside the District of Columbia. The timing is no accident: the proposal landed just days after Virginia voters narrowly backed a mid‑decade redistricting referendum that could give Democrats a 10‑to‑1 edge in the state’s U.S. House delegation, a shift McCormick is casting as partisan map‑rigging.
On his congressional website, McCormick said the measure would "restore the original ten‑mile‑square District" by reversing the retrocession and that the land transfer would kick in at the start of the first federal fiscal year after the bill becomes law, according to his office. McCormick's Office outlines those details. As reported by WUSA9, his office added that ongoing court cases would be allowed to finish in Virginia courts, with the broader transfer schedule pegged to the federal fiscal calendar.
Retrocession and what that would change
Congress originally approved retrocession in 1846, returning roughly 31 square miles to Virginia and shrinking the federal district from about 100 square miles to something closer to its current footprint, according to the Library of Congress. The land that went back included the City of Alexandria and the area that now houses the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. Any attempt to pull that ground back into D.C. would redraw political maps and alter day‑to‑day rules for roughly 400,000 residents, as noted in recent national coverage by the AP.
Legal and political hurdles
Whether Congress can legally re‑absorb land it previously retroceded is an open question that would almost certainly end up in court. Legal experts told the AP that the move would invite constitutional scrutiny. The outlet quoted University of Maryland historian George Derek Musgrove calling McCormick’s plan "not even a retrocession bill" and arguing that it looks more like an effort to strip votes from Virginia residents. Some advocates for different approaches have floated the idea of using executive orders, a pathway that would still likely dump the whole fight in front of federal judges.
Virginia Democrats push back
Virginia Democrats did not wait long to respond. Rep. Don Beyer (D‑Va.), who represents much of the affected area, blasted the idea as an "embarrassing legislative tantrum" and warned it would disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of his constituents, according to the Washington Examiner. The Examiner also reported that Rep. Buddy Carter (R‑Ga.) has already signed on as a cosponsor, even as leaders in both parties acknowledge the proposal faces steep political and legal barriers.
What comes next
To become reality, McCormick’s plan would need to clear Congress and then survive what would likely be years of lawsuits. The Washington Post detailed how the bill arrives in the middle of ongoing court challenges and partisan warfare over Virginia’s April referendum, and noted that the measure has long odds in a closely divided Congress. For people living in Arlington and Alexandria, though, the implications on paper are significant, touching everything from congressional representation to federal relationships and local governance.
For now, the proposal functions largely as a symbolic shot across the bow, essentially a high‑profile political response to a bruising redistricting fight. At the same time, it drags a 19th‑century question back into modern politics: who gets to draw federal boundaries, and can those lines be shifted to chase short‑term partisan advantage. McCormick’s idea will now run the gauntlet of elected officials, judges and voters across multiple jurisdictions.
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