Trump should return Arlington County to D.C. over slavery history

Virginia Democrats simply suggested an electoral map that may probably give Democrats 10 of the state’s 11 representatives within the Home of Representatives. In a state that voted 46% for Trump, giving Republican voters solely about 9% of the state’s illustration is weird. Nonetheless, Virginia have to be cautious. The one cause it has a lot illustration is due to its racist previous. Maybe President Trump ought to proper this historic improper with an extended overdue resolution.

You see, 179 years in the past, Arlington, as soon as a part of the District of Columbia, was given to Virginia for the specific objective of perpetuating slavery in Northern Virginia. Now Arlington, as soon as a part of the District of Columbia, is residence to just about 200,000 Virginians, a lot of whom are DC bureaucrats who now get pleasure from the advantages of dwelling in the US whereas additionally exercising disproportionate affect over the federal authorities. They basically get twin illustration. If the folks of Arlington wish to affect Washington, they must be in Washington, simply because the founders supposed.

The US Capitol from North Capitol Road in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs)

A little bit of historical past: The District of Columbia was based in 1790. The situation was proper between Maryland and Virginia, with each states separated by 5 miles. However in 1847, after the county pushed for the abolition of slavery, Alexandria, now Arlington County, formally grew to become returned after President James Ok. Polk issued a proclamation and accepted energy from the Virginia legislature.

As with the Civil Struggle that adopted, despite the fact that there have been monetary, strategic, and voting pursuits at stake on the time, it’s troublesome to argue that slavery was not the first motivator. Virginians feared that “slaves” would merely stroll throughout the border into the District and turn into free. As a result of the bodily barrier of the Potomac River separates Virginia from the District, slaves wouldn’t be capable of acquire their freedom. And certainly, on account of retrocession, slavery extensive in Virginia, even after the district abolished it.

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The Supreme Court docket by no means addressed the query of whether or not this maneuver was constitutional. It acknowledged the switch, however in a tax dispute. The DC circuit issued a ruling that presumed constitutionality, however in an estates case.

In consequence, reliable constitutional points have been sidelined for 179 years. The Contract Clause of Article I of the Structure states: “No State shall make any legislation adversarial to the obligations of contracts.” In Virginia agreement with the US, it has “endlessly waived and relinquished… in full and absolute proper and unique jurisdiction….” The land was given for the “everlasting seat” of presidency. If the settlement had been ‘everlasting’ and ‘endlessly’, how may a state provoke a legislation affecting that contractual settlement?

US President Donald Trump through the signing of an government order within the Oval Workplace of the White Home in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, January 30, 2026. Trump signed an government order supposed to launch an IndyCar race on the streets of Washington as a part of a collection of America250 celebrations. (Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs)

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There are different constitutional considerations. Numerous businesses are housed in Arlington County. But Article I, Part 8, Clause 17 of the Structure, which describes the “seat of presidency” as a tract of land acquired “by conveyance from sure States.” In different phrases, the Structure thought of the seat of presidency to be unbiased of any state.

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This is smart. Inserting a considerable portion of the federal authorities in a single state provides that state, by logical extension, extra energy than the remaining. That is precisely why separate land was so necessary to the founders. It was all about stability and separating energy and affect.

An effort to revive the district wouldn’t be distinctive to President Trump. Later presidents, akin to Abraham Lincoln, known as for the retrocession to be reversed. President William Taft, who said it wasn’t even constitutional and known as for the land to be returned to the district. An article on the time famous that your complete retrocession effort was supposed “to stop fugitive slaves from escaping from Virginia.”

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In a time of makes an attempt to undo historic injustices surrounding race, it’s obscure how this has not been revisited. However with out racist motives, the land would have remained a part of the District “completely” and “endlessly,” simply as each the states and President George Washington supposed. So, virtually, legally and from a historic injustice perspective, it is smart that the ‘recession’ (i.e. the restoration of the unique cession) is reconsidered.

President Trump ought to contemplate issuing an Govt Order directing the DOJ (or different businesses) to research the constitutionality of the 1847 retrocession and probably determine actions that may be taken to revive the district to its authentic supposed boundaries and functions. As we put together to have a good time America’s 250th birthday, it could be a becoming time for him to return the residents of Arlington to their constitutionally authorised place of residence. Virginians would additionally sleep higher understanding they’d righted an age-old improper.