Law DC Statehood: Manchin comes out against, says constitutional amendment needed

Should Washington D.C. receive statehood status?


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Not unless they get 2/3 control.

Not sure if it’s because it hasn’t reached senate yet but it seem likes 28 democrat senators are signed on to this. That either could mean there isn’t agreement in the party to move forward with it even if it were a 51 majority vote. Schumer is backing it so you’d think he’d try to get everyone aligned to it:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...490ea2-4107-11e9-a0d3-1210e58a94cf_story.html

Haven’t read a bunch of articles at this point yet but I’m leaning towards the idea that it should just be returned to Maryland with a smaller piece left as the capital.
 
A 70-square-mile state?

Half the size of Philly.

If Vatican City can be a sovereign entity with .19 sq miles then I don't see why DC couldn't be a US State.

But I also see a fair argument for being part of Maryland.
 
Then move the federal government. It wasn't a state to begin with because the federal government should not be hubbed in a state with its own state interests. It's creepy enough that the home of the permanent federal government is the most solidly democrat area in the whole country, and then act as if it's a point in your favor that it's so corrupt that they only go after presidential administrations of the opposing party.
 
2 Democratic Senators from DC so the Senate will never approve it.

DC ain't big enough to be a state, should just make it a part of Maryland if anything.
Yeah should just add the districts to MD. DC on its own is all and I don't know about now, but it needed massive govt support to even function.
 
Update since the House vote

Bowser will make case for D.C. statehood at congressional hearing next month
Washington Post
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Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) will make the case for D.C. statehood to members of Congress next month at a congressional hearing where lawmakers will debate the constitutional and logistical hurdles to making the District the 51st state.

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform will hold the hearing for Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s statehood bill on March 11.

After the social justice demonstrations that followed the killing of George Floyd, the disputed 2020 election and the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, Democrats are pushing the statehood issue as a top civil rights and voting rights priority this session.

Last I checked with this, 28 Democratic Senators were on board with this and now it is 47, with only Manchin (D-WV), Kelly (D-AZ) and King (I-Maine) not on board yet. This probably will continue to move slowly. This hearing in March looks to be the next piece of the story.
 
White House formally backs bill to grant DC statehood
The Hill
The White House on Tuesday formally declared its support for a House bill that would grant statehood to Washington, D.C., saying it would provide the residents of the District with "long overdue full representation in Congress."

"Establishing the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth as the 51st state will make our Union stronger and more just," the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement of administration policy. "Washington, D.C. has a robust economy, a rich culture, and a diverse population of Americans from all walks of life who are entitled to full and equal participation in our democracy."

The statement further called for Congress "to provide for a swift and orderly transition to statehood for the people of Washington, D.C."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki previously said President Biden is in favor of giving statehood to D.C. The District is home to roughly 700,000 full-time residents, which is more than Wyoming or Vermont.

Pretty much is coming down to the Senate at this point. Surprised Biden would support this.
 
Unconstitutional, is it not? The Capitol can't be a state.
 
Unconstitutional, is it not? The Capitol can't be a state.

Theres a suburban area that's grown outside of where the capital buildings are. They are trying to make the capital part still an autonomous zone but the suburban part its own state
 
I think the bill tries to bypass this by making the majority of the territory the state and the federal buildings still the capital. They are attempting to carve out more so less of the area is the capital itself. This is why you see some people in the thread suggesting it just get reabsorbed into Maryland. They originally gave up land for the capital so there’s an argument there that they would be returned whatever isn’t seen as needed for that capital.

I'm on board with this, not the statehood lunacy.
 
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I'm on board with this, not the statehood lunacy.

I think it's a practical way to handle it but if I were to weigh the odds of statehood vs. absorbed back into Maryland, I somehow thing the later has a way lower probability

No but Puerto Rico deserves to be a state.

Yea, I tend to think DC is just a power grab. Puerto Rico seems to be a much better argument but I think there are some hurdles to it. They aren't positioned at the moment but I would think it will become more and more of a possibility over this decade.
 
the problem with DC being a state is it relies heavily on federal tax dollars, which everybody pays into. most of the people there are federal employees or contractors supporting a federal agency. during a recession, DC will be minimally affected since federal employees will continue to get paid. everybody outside of DC is paying federal taxes to keep them afloat.
 
I think it's a practical way to handle it but if I were to weigh the odds of statehood vs. absorbed back into Maryland, I somehow thing the later has a way lower probability

There's a precedent for that, when a big chunk of DC was returned to Virginia and became Alexandria county.

Neither the Maryland or the DC residents particular like the retrocession idea now, because one is Republican and the other is decidedly Democratic, which makes me like that idea even more, and there's a bill for that too, with much less fanfare than the "DC Statehood" drive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_retrocession

https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/e...db1ebf59-08ae-576d-8b70-92694d12a0b9.amp.html
 
I think it's a practical way to handle it but if I were to weigh the odds of statehood vs. absorbed back into Maryland, I somehow thing the later has a way lower probability



Yea, I tend to think DC is just a power grab. Puerto Rico seems to be a much better argument but I think there are some hurdles to it. They aren't positioned at the moment but I would think it will become more and more of a possibility over this decade.

DC is an obvious power grab. It makes sense for it to be not with its own senators
 
House Democrats eye passing DC statehood bill for second time
The Hill
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House Democratic leaders on Wednesday looked ahead to the lower chamber’s vote on Washington, D.C., statehood scheduled for Thursday, as the legislation is poised to make its way to the Senate for a second consecutive session of Congress.
The legislation would make Washington the 51st state.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a press conference Wednesday that he expects all House Democrats to vote in favor of the legislation.

“It is in our platform as [the] Democratic Party to treat the citizens of the District of Columbia as equal citizens of the United States of America," Hoyer said.

Hoyer was joined at the briefing by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), D.C.’s House delegate and architect of the bill, H.R. 51.

With 216 co-sponsors, H.R. 51 is virtually guaranteed to pass.

In the last congressional session, Republicans had control of the Senate, often forcing this bill and others that passed the Democratic-controlled House to languish in the upper chamber.

Democrats now have a slim majority with Vice President Harris's tie-breaking vote in a 50-50 Senate, but H.R. 51’s path to President Biden’s desk is still fraught with significant roadblocks.

Perhaps the largest is the Senate filibuster, which jeopardizes the passage of not only H.R. 51 but several other pieces of legislation that the Biden administration has prioritized.

Kinda confused why they are voting this through in the House again. Possibly like the repeal Obamacare thing? Anyways, likely to pass Thursday (again). Senate still seems to be the barrier and unlikely to change at the moment.
 
I like this. Then go on to make Puerto Rico a state as well. More states!
I agree to an extent: American Samoa, Guam, Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands should certainly be states. Interestingly, Samoa has the highest ratio of people in the US military than any US state.

But, I'm not sold on DC statehood. It was created as a entity to stay as the seat of government and that's it.

As I've stated in another thread, Arlington, Virginia used to be a part of DC in the 1800s. But, then they were reabsorbed into Virginia. Now, they have a voting member in the House of Representatives and have representation in the Senate.

The land north of the Potomac could certainly do the same. They can be reabsorbed into Maryland. That way, they will get a voice in the senate and Elanor Holmes Norton would become a voting member of the House.
 
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