(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans have introduced a bill to rename Washington Dulles International Airport after former President Donald Trump — a move in an election year that brings added attention to the presumptive Republican nominee.
The bill, which was referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for further consideration, would designate Dulles Airport — located outside the nation’s capital in Virginia — as the “Donald J. Trump International Airport.”
“Freedom. Prosperity. Strength. That’s what America stood for under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump — the best president of my lifetime. And that’s why I’m introducing legislation to rename Dulles as the Donald J. Trump International Airport,” Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler said on X.
The Pennsylvania Republican introduced the legislation last Friday and six other members co-sponsored it: Reps. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., Paul Gosar, R-Ariz, Troy Nehls, R-Texas, Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Barry Moore, R-Ala. and Mike Waltz, R-Fla.
It’s not yet clear how the bill will fare in the GOP-controlled House, though it’s likely to be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate — meaning it would not become law.
Several of Virginia’s House Democrats slammed Republicans’ efforts.
Rep. Gerry Connolly said in a statement on X that “Donald Trump is facing 91 felony charges. If Republicans want to name something after him, I’d suggest they find a federal prison.” Trump denies wrongdoing in his cases stemming from the charges.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger called the bill “ridiculous, but sadly real.”
“Congress must act on pressing issues like reauthorizing the FAA and passing the national security supplemental. Yet this is what a Member of House Republican leadership focuses on — renaming Virginia’s Dulles airport after Trump,” Spanberger wrote on X.
Rep. Don Beyer said that after Trump enacted a controversial travel ban that barred immigration to the United States from certain foreign countries, he went to Dulles Airport “to try to help innocent people caught up in the chaos.”
“I remember grandparents detained for hours as their terrified families waited,” Beyer wrote on X.
“I remember Republicans like those who wrote this bill hiding and giving mealy mouthed responses when asked about the suffering Trump’s Muslim ban caused,” Beyer said of the travel ban. “They know Dulles will never be renamed after Trump. Again, that’s not the point, the point is to suck up to their Dear Leader.”
Dulles Airport, 26 miles west of Washington, D.C., was named for John Foster Dulles, who served as secretary of state under President Dwight Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. The airport was formally dedicated by President John F. Kennedy in 1962; it was later renamed Washington Dulles International Airport in 1984.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which oversees Dulles Airport, did not have a comment about the bill.
ABC News has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
