The Impending Hurdles to DC Statehood
By Meagan Flynn and Teddy Amenabar
With Democrats in control of both houses of Congress and the White House, advocating getting Washington, DC, the 51st states believe they are on the verge of an historic opportunity.
Seven months after the House of Representatives passed a DC Statehood bill Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) says the unprecedented for the first time Attack on the US Capitol This adds to the urgency: DC residents, she said, risked their lives on Jan. 6 to defend a Congress that did not allow them to proxy.
DC statehood, however, still faces a number of high hurdles, not only in the narrowly divided Senate, but also in public opinion. A 2019 Gallup poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans were against DC statehood.
Why isn’t DC already a state? What does the constitution say?
The founding of Washington, DC is enshrined in the constitution, which provides that the district – “not more than ten miles square” – become the “seat of the United States government.” For a short time after the city was founded in 1790, residents enjoyed voting rights and were allowed to vote as residents of Maryland or Virginia. However, those rights ended shortly after Congress moved to the city and the new Capitol in 1800 and the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 was passed. The law deprived DC residents of their voting rights in all federal elections.
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