U.S. Rep Don Beyer (D-Va.), currently seeking a seventh term in Congress, says he has “mixed feelings” on Virginia legislators’ redistricting proposal that is being blocked by a state judge.
Beyer, who represents Arlington and several neighboring localities in the 8th Congressional District, told ARLnow the current maps approved through the 2021 redistricting process made Virginia “one of the least gerrymandered in the country.”
However, he believes that President Donald Trump’s pressuring of Texas and several other states to pursue mid-decade congressional redistricting would make it reasonable to present a possible change as an option for Virginia voters.
“What Trump has done with the mid-decade redistricting has made the national elections very unfair,” Beyer told ARLnow in an interview before the judge’s ruling. “If the Republican states are all gerrymandered and the Democratic ones aren’t, then we can’t win. We’ll leave it up to the Virginia voters. We have to win the fairness argument with the Virginia voters.”
The Virginia General Assembly had passed a constitutional amendment on mid-decade redistricting and was in the process of advancing a referendum bill to put it on the ballot for an April 21 special election. However, yesterday (Tuesday), a Virginia judge ruled against the redistricting initiative, which Democrats vowed to appeal.
If approved, redistricting would set new districts in motion for the 2026 congressional midterm elections.
Democrats are vying to take a House majority in the 2026 midterms, and the 8th Congressional District remains strongly Democratic as the current boundaries stand. Beyer will face at least five challengers in the June 16 Democratic primary, and at least three Republicans are vying for the party’s nomination to face Beyer in November.
The congressman, who has faced primary challenges in past election cycles, says he welcomes challengers.
“I need to work for it every day, but stand for it every two years,” Beyer said. “So I intend to run the primary and the general the way I always have. I don’t think you’ll hear me say an unkind word about an opponent, Democrat or Republican. I respect that they’ll be in it, and then my primary job is not to worry about them, but rather to continue to go back to the voters.”
Beyer’s case to voters will highlight his 11 years in Congress and his experience as a U.S. ambassador and Virginia lieutenant governor, as well as relationships built through his service and his ability to advance bills by working across the aisle.
Along with work on Congress, Beyer continues courses for a master’s degree in computer science at George Mason University. Due to his workload, the congressman takes one class per semester and has nine more to go.
“I’m very excited about it, and want to stay as connected to our technical and scientific progress as I can,” Beyer said.
Before election season, the congressman is keeping busy responding to policy changes under the Trump administration. Beyer’s district, which includes one of the highest numbers of federal civilian workers in the U.S., could be hit hard by another federal government shutdown starting at the end of Friday night as the Senate faces a potential stalemate over Department of Homeland Security funding.
Beyer, who opposed the Homeland Security budget in the House vote, said senators have to consider the Homeland Security spending as part of a six-bill appropriations package.
“Six of the 12 appropriations bills are done. However, for those of us who are living in Northern Virginia, a lot of the government agencies that are most affected by the unpassed parts are right here,” Beyer said. “It includes the Department of Defense, the State Department, others. Our federal employees have suffered a great deal already, so I hate the thought of them suffering even more.”
Beyer has also called for the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, the removal of ICE and other Homeland Security personnel from Minneapolis and an investigation into the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
“I think we’re going to have very serious investigations. They may be partisan. We would like them to be bipartisan,” said Beyer. “I’m encouraged that a number of the Republican senators today have said that they wanted to see a bipartisan investigation, but sometimes in the House … we may have to do it on our own. It’s important to make the statement anyway. American people are crying out for us to push back.”
Beyer has “modest expectations” about getting legislation passed due to partisan divides in the Republican-controlled House. Bills he believes will get bipartisan support deal with artificial intelligence, mental illness and investments in fusion energy.
Beyer, who founded the House Fusion Energy Caucus, says the world’s first fusion energy plant will break ground in Chesterfield County, Va. in 2026. He believes that Congress could pass a full fusion energy package in 2027.
“Nothing could make affordability more real than dropping the cost of energy to very, very low,” Beyer said. “Fusion energy, it’s in our lifetimes … but we want to be five years away and not 10 years away.”
Other bills would require more Republicans to break from party lines. Through his work on the House Ways and Means Committee’s trade subcommittee, Beyer continues to push for legislation to give trade and tariff authority back to Congress amid Trump’s tariff actions and his “Millionaires Surtax” legislation to add an additional 10 percent tax on seven-figure incomes.
“We have a wealthy country, but the wealth is very much concentrated at the top,” Beyer said. “I’m in a unique position, because some of the wealthiest counties in America are Fairfax and Arlington, [and] the city of Alexandria. But we want to make sure that our tax rates are appropriately progressive.”
If Democrats win the House majority, Beyer expects more checks on Trump’s budget priorities. However, the congressman says control of the Senate leans slightly Republican as 35 seats are on the ballot in 2026.
“Once again, we’re gonna have to work in a bipartisan way, which is not the way this last year has gone,” Beyer said.
