Last week, North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell introduced a bill to rename Dulles Airport after President Donald Trump. If passed, H.R. 691 will “designate Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia as ‘Donald J. Trump International Airport.'” The bill was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
“We have entered the golden age of America largely thanks to President Trump’s leadership,” McDowell said in a news release. “It is only right that the two airports servicing our nation’s capital are duly honored and respected by two of the best presidents to have the honor of serving our great nation.”
Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Guy Reschenthaler introduced a similar bill last March. But with a Democratic president in office, and a Democrat-controlled Senate, the bill died in committee. Reschenthaler is a cosponsor of the current bill, along with Republicans Brandon Gill of Texas, Riley Moore of West Virginia, and Brian Jack of Georgia.
Democrat Rep. Suhas Subramanyam represents the district that includes Dulles Airport. On January 25, Subramanyam criticized efforts to rename the airport. “It’s disappointing, but entirely unsurprising, that House Republicans would rather focus their efforts on renaming airports to honor their dear leader than tackling the real issues facing Americans,” Subramanyam stated.
Dulles International Airport opened in Northern Virginia in 1962. In 2023, it became the fastest growing international airport in the U.S., according to air traffic statistics released by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
The airport was named after John Foster Dulles, who served as President Dwight Eisenhower’s secretary of state from 1953 to 1959. Dulles was instrumental in forming U.S. foreign policy with the Soviet Union after World War II.
Read more about how Dulles Airport and other significant developments have forever changed the landscape of Northen Virginia.
Feature image courtesy Nate Hovee/stock.adobe.com
