House Democrats vote to make DC 51st state, but Senate passage highly unlikely

For the second time in two years, House Democrats passed legislation to make the District of Columbia the nation’s 51st state.

The bill passed 216-208 along party lines and thus stands little chance of passing the Senate, where at least 10 Republican senators would be needed to prevent a filibuster.

But Democrats believe there is momentum to push “H.R. 51” into law.

HOUSE WILL VOTE TO MAKE DC 51ST STATE, BUT THE PROPOSAL FACES LONG ODDS IN THE SENATE

Democrats now control the Senate, and President Joe Biden identified statehood for Washington, D.C., as a top priority on his 100-day agenda.

Democrats argued taxpaying Washington residents are denied a fundamental right to have a representative and two senators represent them, as is the case in the nation’s 50 states.

“Congress has the moral obligation and the constitutional authority to pass H.R. 51,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat and the district’s nonvoting representative in the House, said Thursday.

But Republicans call the bill a political power grab. The district’s population of more than 700,000 residents reliably votes for Democrats and would, without question, send two additional Democratic senators to Congress.

“It’s about Democrats adding two new progressive U.S. senators to push a radical agenda, … to reshape America into the socialist utopia they always talk about,” Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said. “It’s not really about voting representation. It’s about Democrats consolidating their power in Washington.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, said the voting habits of Washington’s residents should not matter and suggested Republicans reject statehood due to the racial makeup and political party identification in the city.

“That is not the America I know and love,” Connolly said.

Democratic and Republican administrations have rejected statehood for the district without a constitutional amendment. But Democrats, in recent years, began arguing it can be achieved through legislation signed by the president.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, supports the legislation, but it does not have unanimous backing from the 50 members of the Senate’s Democratic caucus. So far, 44 Senate Democrats have signed on to the statehood bill sponsored by Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat.

He has long identified it as a priority in a Democratic-led Senate, but to do so, the Senate would have to eliminate the 60-vote threshold.

However, there is not enough support among Democrats to make that change, so the statehood bill will be added to a growing list of legislation that cannot pass the Senate due to lack of bipartisan support.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the bill would “right an historic injustice,” and statehood “is about showing respect for our democracy.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The House is weighing proposals to provide a pathway for Puerto Rico to become a state, but Democrats are far less enthusiastic. Puerto Rico voters elect Republicans, including current U.S. House Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon.

Norton, the sole delegate for the district in the House, may introduce legislation but cannot vote on its final passage. Norton is allowed to vote on certain amendments.