WASHINGTON – A group of House Republicans has introduced a bill to rename Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia after former President Donald Trump.
The bill, introduced Friday, is sponsored by Majority Leader Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pennsylvania) and co-sponsored by six other Republicans. . Andrew Ogles, from Tennessee. Chuck Fleischman from Tennessee. Paul Gosar, from Arizona. Barry Moore of Alabama. and Troy Neals of Texas.
The bill would designate Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia as the “Donald J. Trump International Airport.''
This was referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for further consideration.
“Freedom, prosperity and strength. That's what America stood for under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, the best president of my lifetime,” Reschenthaler wrote on Tuesday. Post to X. “And that's why I'm introducing legislation to change the name of Dulles Airport to Donald J. Trump International Airport.”
Some House Democrats expressed disbelief at the move to rename the airport, located 42 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C.
“This idea is ridiculous but sadly realistic,” Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is running for Virginia governor, wrote on Tuesday. Post to X, added that Congress should instead focus on reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration and passing foreign aid. “But the focus of House Republican leadership is renaming Dulles Airport in Virginia after Trump.”
Rep. Don Beyer, Democrat of Virginia, wrote: X thread On Tuesday, one of Trump's first acts as president was a “racist Muslim ban that bans U.S. permanent residents from their country.” The congressman said at the time that he went to Dulles Airport “to help innocent people caught up in the chaos.”
“I remember Republicans like the authors of this bill giving covert, glib responses when asked about the suffering caused by President Trump’s Muslim ban,” Beyer wrote. Ta. “They know Dulles will never be renamed after Trump. Again, that's not the point. What's important is to honor our dear leader.”
Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), who assisted the House Select Committee that investigated January 6 in the last Congress, said Tuesday that the bill was not an April Fool's joke. “No reasonable VA official would support that, if you want to stick to your airport,” he said.
The Dulles opened in December 1962 and was named for John Foster Dulles, who served as Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959.