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The Lower House will vote Thursday on a bill to admit Washington, DC, as state number 51, although it is likely for the measure to fail in the Senate, split evenly between Republicans and Democrats.
On Tuesday, the Biden Administration formally supported a proposal by Democrats to convert to Washington, DC . in state number 51, reported CNBC .
Congress should “provide a swift and orderly transition to statehood” for more than 700, 000 Washington residents who do not have full voting representation in the House and Senate, the Office of Management and Budget said in an administrative policy statement .
President Joe Biden officially revealed his position last month, when White House press secretary Jen Psaki, confirmed that he “believes they deserve representation, that’s why he supports DC statehood.”
For the bill’s advocates, DC statehood is a civil rights issue.
The district has a population of more than 550, 000 people, greater than the population of Wyoming or Vermont.
The lack of statehood for Washington, DC’s 700, 000 residents is a prime example of voter suppression.
We need nationwide support. Urge Congress to support DC statehood now. https://t.co/5MOS5l0reI
– ACLU (@ACLU) April 12, 2021
But while those two states each have two senators and a representative in the House, Washington DC does not have voting representation in Congress. Eleanor Holmes Norton represents DC in Congress as a non-voting delegate.
Proponents of statehood 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 population that is 46% African American and mostly non-white. If admitted, it would be the first state with a plurality of African-American population, reported CBS News.
The legislation, titled HR 51, would create the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, named after Frederick Douglass. It would give DC two U.S. senators and a voting representative in the House, just like any other state.
The bill as well would cordon off the White House, the US Capitol and the National Mall to remain under federal control as the seat of the country’s government.
The House passed a DC statehood measure by a vote of 232 to 180 last year, but did not get a vote in the Senate, which was then controlled by Republicans.
Although Democrats now have a majority of 50 seats, most laws require 60 votes to move forward, and this bill is unlikely to win the support of 10 Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to bring the measure to the floor for a vote, but a motion to move forward with the legislation is almost certain to fail.
() Many supporters of DC statehood are lobbying the Senate to remove obstructionism, which would allow measures to move forward with a simple majority.
But this would require the support of the 50 Democrats in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tiebreaker vote. Two Democrats say they won’t support him, anything but condemning HR’s prospects .
DC’s fight for statehood is not new: It has been around since the country’s inception, and both sides spearheaded the load at different times. But the modern fight for statehood is led by the Democrats. The District is heavily Democratic: the 92% of its residents supported President Biden in the elections of 2020.