In the wake of a Virginia referendum on redistricting that could help Democrats secure as many as four more House seats come autumn’s midterms, a House Republican has an unconventional solution to help his party’s odds: return to D.C. a deep blue slice of the currently purple state. In other words, Make D.C. Square Again.
The legislation, introduced by Rep. Richard McCormick (R-Georgia), seeks to revive a long-settled D.C. border dispute involving neighboring Alexandria and Arlington County by restoring the original boundaries of the nation’s capital established by the Residence Act of 1790, when the map was square instead of its current shape resembling the continental United States. (Keen observers might note that, were Alexandria and Arlington discounted from Tuesday’s election, the referendum that could help Democrats win 10 of the state’s 11 House seats still would have passed, according to election results.)
“DC Bureaucrats hijacked Virginia … but we will restore it,” McCormick wrote on X. “That’s why I introduced the Make DC Square Again Act, because it’s a simple concept: DC =∎”
The bill aims to undo the 1846 retrocession of Arlington County and the City of Alexandria, moving about 250,000 voters from the Commonwealth to the District — which does not have congressional representation.
So, maybe by 2027 if the bill were to pass, you’d take the Metro not to Arlington, but to SoPo, a new D.C. neighborhood just South of the Potomac. You’d gaze upon the decapitated high rises, recently trimmed to accommodate D.C.’s mandate that no structure be taller than the Washington Monument, and visit a gift shop selling square-shaped Washington merch to busloads of middle-schoolers. The George Washington Masonic Temple, Pentagon City Mall and the Rosslyn Twin Towers would also all belong to the great people of D.C.
Or maybe not. The bill would need to survive multiple layers of scrutiny, including from lawmakers who like the current borders the way they are. Residents of Arlington and Alexandria show no interest in leaving Virginia and, political observers say, courts are unlikely to reopen an issue treated as settled for generations. To local politicians, including fellow Republicans, McCormick’s proposal is little more than political theater.
“I operate under the political reality that Arlington is part of Virginia, as it has been for 179 years,” said Arlington GOP Chairman Matthew Hurtt. “Congress isn’t well-known for passing controversial legislation, and Arlington Republicans don’t make plans based on hypothetical scenarios which may or may not play out across the river.”
Maureen Coffey (D), the vice chair of the Arlington County Board, called McCormick’s proposal “a ridiculous thing to be doing.”
A spokesman for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) called the bill an attempt to distract voters from more pressing issues.
“Inflation is rising, gas is close to $4, and Virginia families are feeling squeezed by high prices because of the reckless policies coming out of Washington,” Jack Bledsoe, the spokesman, said in a statement. “Republicans in Congress should be focused on contending with the high costs and economic uncertainty created by President Trump, not disenfranchising Virginians.”
McCormick’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Most residents of D.C., Alexandria and Arlington seem content living on within their current city borders.
“This is something in Alexandria that would unite both parties,” said former mayor Justin Wilson, a Democrat. “I think my good Alexandria Republican friends would see this for what it is, as a complete stunt. … They probably wouldn’t be too keen on not having elected congressional representation either, but, you know, I struggle to extend the thought exercise much beyond just mockery.”
The drama dates back to the post-Revolutionary War Residence Act, when Maryland and Virginia agreed to cede 69 and 31 square miles, respectively, to create a new seat of federal power, not beholden to any single state, for their emerging nation. The United States capital moved from Philadelphia to what was then solely known as the City of Washington in 1800 — a perfect 10 by 10-mile square, flipped on its side into a diamond.
In the ensuing decades, some residents and politicians pushed for retrocession (or returning all or parts of D.C. to Maryland or Virginia). But the movements had little grip until the mid-1840s, when residents who lived in what is now Virginia complained of lack of representation amid concerns that Congress would abolish the active slave trade in D.C. In 1846, Congress approved the retrocession of the Virginia portion of the city. (The District did abolish the slave trade in 1850, and, in 1862, slavery in D.C. was abolished.)
Some online fringe proponents of undoing Virginia retrocession argue that, because the 1846 decision was to help slavery flourish, reuniting parts of NoVa with the District right a wrong. John Taylor Chapman, the longest serving Alexandria council member and fourth-generation Alexandrian who gives tours on the city’s Black history, disagrees.
“Frankly, since slavery is not legal in the United States, I don’t think you have a valid reason for bringing this back up,” he said. “Your reasoning now is not because of slavery, not based on what it was back then. It’s solely based on partisan politics and retribution at this point.”
If “Make D.C. Square Again” sounds like a meme, that’s because it sort of is. The notion of returning the District to its original shape has existed among the wonkiest corners of the internet for years. “The facts are real. The questions are open. The square awaits,” proclaims one anonymous website advocating for undoing retrocession.
The idea has also gained traction on social media. “Speaking of retrocession as a Marylander, I’d like to get our land back if y’all are going to keep blaming Maryland drivers for everything,” one poster wrote on Instagram. “First of all, this is ridiculous. Second of all, if this were to ever happen, I’m still not crossing the river,” said another.
Redrawing the jagged edges of D.C.’s border back into a tidy square isn’t the first proposed way to change the shape of the District; some advocates for D.C. resident representation in Congress have sought to shift the city in the other direction, back into Maryland, save for a sliver of federal buildings that would host federal dealings.
That idea — another retrocession — would be one way for Washingtonians to gain full representation in Congress, though a 2016 Public Policy Polling poll found that only 28 percent of Marylanders supported it. Another might be to give a vote to the city’s nonvoting representative. Many Democrats and residents of D.C., however, favor statehood as a solution.
Coffey, the Arlington County Board vice chair, predicted that the bill will have a short life.
“This temper tantrum in response to voters making their voices heard, I don’t imagine it’s going to go anywhere,” she said.
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