Congress orders study of George Washington's 1753 trail for national status.
S. 4538 — Washington’s Trail—1753 National Historic Trail Feasibility Study Act of 2026 · Filed by John Fetterman (D-PA) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced May 14, 2026 · Reported out
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What it does
The bill tells the Secretary of the Interior to study a historic route. George Washington traveled this route in 1753 from Williamsburg, Virginia to Fort LeBoeuf, Pennsylvania. The route is 500 miles long. The study will check if this trail should become a national historic trail.
Who it affects
The study creates work for the Secretary of the Interior and government staff. Landowners along the 500-mile route may be affected if the trail gets designated later.
One thing to notice
The bill orders only a study, not a final decision. A future bill or action would be needed to actually make the trail official.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 3 Republicans, 2 Democrats.
- May 14, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 14, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
- Jul 21, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held”
- Jul 29, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Secretary of the Interior — The government official who manages public lands and natural resources.
- national historic trail — A path or route recognized by the federal government for historical importance.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (708 characters) on Aug 20, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-17.
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