Republican unveils Declaration of Independence bill ahead of America's 250th birthday

A newly elected Republican lawmaker is putting America's founding principles back before Congress ahead of the nation's 250th birthday, arguing the country must recommit to them as socialist ideas gain traction on the left.

Rep. Matt Van Epps, R-Tenn., unveiled legislation reaffirming the Declaration of Independence — a move he said follows a congressional tradition of marking major national anniversaries with the founding document.

"Congress did this in America 100 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary," Van Epps told Fox News Digital in an interview. "We felt like this was the right time to do it so that generations forward understand that we love our country at America 250."

The Tennessee Republican, who was elected in a December 2025 special election, said he filed the bill in response to socialism’s rise in the Democratic Party, with the far-left attempting a major power grab ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Rep. Matt Van Epps, R-Tenn., leaves the House Republican Conference caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

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Van Epps specifically referenced a slate of socialist candidates poised to serve in Congress after winning primaries in deep-blue districts anchored in New York City.

Democratic congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old activist who won an upset victory against an establishment Democrat, has argued that the deportation of any illegal migrant is wrong, voiced support for the prison abolition movement and questioned Israel’s right to exist. She also co-founded a pro-Palestinian organization at Columbia University that called for "the total eradication of Western civilization."

"These folks that are supported and endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America are antithetical to the founding," Van Epps told Fox News Digital. "We've got to fight against that."

"Socialism, Marxist, leftist ideas have failed every time they've been tried in the history of the world," he continued, adding that those ideas are "not America at its core."

"What the founders set out to do 250 years ago … We've got to continue so that the next generations know about that freedom and liberty and pursuing that greatness."

It is unclear when the House will consider the resolution, as lawmakers left Washington early for the July 4 recess after a group of conservative Republicans effectively froze the floor in protest over the SAVE America Act and border security priorities.

Rep. Matt Van Epps, R-Tenn., unveiled legislation reaffirming the Declaration of Independence. (iStock)

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Earlier this month, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., also put the Declaration of Independence on the floor in the Senate, where it easily passed in the upper chamber.

Both Schmitt and Van Epps agreed to put forward companion legislation after playing in the annual Congressional baseball game ahead of America’s 250th birthday.

For Schmitt, it was to reinvigorate Americans’ pride in their country, which over the years, he contended, has steadily declined.

"A generation ago, American pride was nearly universal," Schmitt said on the Senate floor at the time. "After 9/11, more than 90% of Americans said they were proud to be an American. Today, Gallup puts that number at 58%."

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., talks to reporters as he leaves a Republican Caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on November 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

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He described the idea behind the document as an inheritance passed down through the generations to remind Americans why the founding fathers opted to wrench control of the colonies’ future from England, and carve their own path as a new nation.

"That inheritance now rests in our hands, and too many powerful voices in this country teach the next generation to receive it with suspicion instead of gratitude," Schmitt said. "We are done being ashamed of America. We love our country. We honor the men who built it. We give thanks for the inheritance they placed in our hand, and we intend to keep it."