Washington – The House will vote Thursday on a bill to allow Washington, DC, as the 51st state, though the measure is likely to fail in the equally divided Senate.
For advocates of the bill, DC state is a civil rights issue. The district has a population of more than 700,000 people, larger than the population of Wyoming or Vermont. But although the two states each have two senators and one House representative, DC has no voting representation in Congress. Eleanor Holmes Norton represents DC in Congress as a non-voting delegate.
State Attorneys also point out that DC pays more federal taxes than 21 states and more per capita than any state, according to IRS data from 2019. The district is also diverse, with a 46% black population and a majority non-white. If allowed, it would be the first state with a multiple of black population.
The legislation, entitled HR 51, would create the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, named after Frederick Douglass. That would give DC two U.S. senators and one vote in the House, like every other state. The bill would also shut down the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall to remain under federal control as the seat of the U.S. government.
The House approved a DC state measure last year with a vote of 232 to 180, but it did not get a vote in the Senate, which was then controlled by Republicans. Although Democrats now have a 50-seat majority, most legislation requires 60 votes to move forward, and this bill is unlikely to gain support from ten Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged to bring the measure to the floor for a vote, but a motion to proceed with the legislation would almost certainly fail.
Many supporters of the DC State Institution are pushing the Senate to eliminate the filibuster, which will allow the measures to be advanced by a simple majority. But it requires the support of all 50 Democrats in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the deciding vote. Two Democrats say they will not support it – but the outlook for HR 51 is bleak.
At a press conference on Wednesday to promote HR 51, Norton expressed confidence that the legislation has a chance in the Senate and said it “believes the filibuster is on its way”.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer appeared at the press conference on Wednesday, saying the Senate would “make a decision to make a good judgment” when the legislation comes to the floor.
“We believe in a good policy for our country and hope that the Senate will act on behalf of the people,” Hoyer said.
Dr. Ravi Perry, chair of the political science department at Howard University and a board member of DC Vote, a group that supports state capture, noted in an interview with CBS News that many of the black families living in the district , has been here for generations. Perry noted that many of the iconic federal buildings in Washington, such as the White House and the Capitol, were built by black workers and slaves, but the descendants of the workers who do not live in the district do not enjoy all the privileges offered by the “beacons of democracy are not represented.”
“They look at the buildings built by black people, built by slaves, and they see hope,” Perry said of the black residents of the district. ‘And they know every day when they wake up that they do not have the same rights [as other Americans]. “
Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over Washington, which means that local legislation, including the DC budget, must be approved by Congress. This can have controversial side effects when DC residents make decisions that are blocked or overturned by Congress. DC voters approved Initiative 71 in 2014, which allows adults to grow, own and give marijuana. However, Congress barred the district from allowing marijuana sales by attaching a rider to DC’s credit bill to prevent it from using funds to legalize or regulate weed sales.
The idea of DC state capture is growing in popularity nationwide. A March poll conducted by Data for Progress and the progressive advocacy coalition Democracy for All 2021 Action, which was first shared with CBS News, found that 54% of likely voters think DC should be a state.
Lawyers also point to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as the reason the district should be allowed as a state. Unlike other National Guard units, the DC National Guard does not fall under local control, and can only be mobilized by the White House. Legislators questioned why the national guard acted so long during the January 6 assault on the Capitol. If Washington, DC, had gained local control over its national guard, the guard might have deployed sooner.
The fight for DC state capture is not new – it has existed since the inception of the country, with both parties leading the charge at different times. But the modern struggle for state capture is led by Democrats. The district is strongly democratic – 92% of its residents supported President Biden in the 2020 election. Senate Democrats submitted a guidance bill to the House measure in January, which has 38 candidates in the Senate, including Schumer.
The district’s biased balance is largely why DC’s recognition as a state garners so much opposition from Republicans. If allowed as a state, it is very likely that the two senators and one representative of DC would be Democrats, which would tip the balance of Congress further in favor of the Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was one of the most outspoken opponents of the DC state, referring to it in 2019 as “full-fledged socialism.” In his speech at the Republican National Convention in 2020, McConnell argues that the Democrats want to allow DC, which he called “the swamp itself,” to set their agenda.
“With two more Liberal senators, we can not undo the damage they have done,” McConnell said.
House Republicans are also against allowing DC as a state. In a hearing on the House Bill last month, James Comer, a DC state, said an important part of the radical left’s agenda is to reform America. ‘
The bill is not expected to win any Republican votes in the House. The House Oversight Committee passed the bill last week with a vote of 25 to 19, entirely along party lines.
Some Republicans have suggested that the Maryland district be entered into as a compromise, which would theoretically give the residents of the district a voting right in the House, but not add two new senators. Senator Mitt Romney on Tuesday expressed support for this proposal.
But this solution is unpopular with residents of the district and Maryland. In a statement on withdrawal in February, Norton noted that 86% of DC residents voted in a 2016 referendum for state capture.
“Resignation would be inconsistent with the referendum vote and the district’s pursuit of self-determination,” Norton said. The referendum request was sent to Congress, which took no action against it.
Maryland’s congressional representatives also oppose retrocession.
“The people of DC have made it very clear that they want self-determination. It is supposed to be a democracy,” Maryland Senator Mary Van Senen told reporters on Wednesday.
Advocates of state capture argue that the partisan balance of the district should not be a factor in the decision. They believe that every American should ensure that 700,000 of their fellow citizens do not have a voting representation in Congress, and that they want state capture for the sake of equal rights.
“We’re not talking about giving people rights simply because of their descriptive characteristics, we’re saying they deserve these rights because they’re Americans too,” Perry said.