House passes bill that would make D.C. the 51st state

Authored by axios.com and submitted by slaysia

The House of Representatives voted 216-208 on Thursday to pass a bill that would grant statehood to Washington, D.C.

The big picture: It's the second year in a row that the Democratic-controlled House has voted to recognize D.C. as the 51st state. The bill now heads to a divided Senate, where it faces little chance of reaching the 60 votes necessary to send to President Biden's desk.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised to bring the legislation to the chamber's floor for a vote, but it's opposed by Republicans and even some Democrats.

How it works: H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, would give the district two senators and a voting representative in the House.

The new state would be called "Washington, Douglass Commonwealth" in honor of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

It would exclude federal buildings and monuments, and federal territory would be known as the Capital.

Why it matters: Statehood for the district is a priority for Democrats, who have painted statehood as a civil rights issue, and a matter of enfranchisement for the city's Black plurality.

Republicans have argued that the measure is an unconstitutional power grab that the country's founders did not envisage.

The District tends to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats.

Go deeper: D.C. statehood explained (USA Today)

nor_cal_wolf on April 22nd, 2021 at 17:18 UTC »

Curious about this- The last time a state was created/admitted, did the Senate need to overcome filibuster?

SeasonsGone on April 22nd, 2021 at 17:12 UTC »

Anyone else think this shouldn't be framed as "making D.C. the 51st state?" D.C. is actually just going to be resized to only encompass the Federal buildings and a new state will be created to embody the remaining area. We'll continue to have a federal district.

EDIT: A lot of people are suggesting that residential DC just be absorbed into Maryland or Virginia. I don't have skin in this game and don't necessarily disagree with that, but that still doesn't answer why they shouldn't be their own state. Why wasn't Arizona absorbed into California or New Mexico when it was created? There's 0 rules about states having a minimum population, city, or landmass requirement.

Edit 2: As a Native American I’m so stoked so many people are interested in land repatriation even if it’s to right a wrong that happened centuries ago! Hell yeah

SyntheticLife on April 22nd, 2021 at 16:03 UTC »

Does the Senate need a filibuster for this vote or not? No one can seem to provide a clear answer.