The effort is doomed to fail in the US Senate where not even all the Democratic Senator’s support the effort that would need 60 votes…..
Democrats want to push this anyways….
The bill, symbolically titled H.R. 51, now heads to the Senate, where proponents hope to break new ground — including a first-ever hearing in that chamber.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer pledged Tuesday that “we will try to work a path to get [statehood] done,” and the White House asked Congress in a policy statement to pass the legislation as swiftly as possible….
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On Wednesday, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) released a memo calling D.C. statehood unconstitutional, questioning the city’s financial health, and seizing on crime statistics and scandals involving former city officials to argue that the District does not deserve statehood.
“Democrats’ partisan push for D.C. statehood is irresponsible and represents exactly what the Founding Fathers sought to guard against when establishing the seat of the federal government,” Scalise wrote.
Republican senators from less populous states have worried that D.C. statehood would “dilute” their states’ power, as Sen. Steve Daines (Mont.) put it this week. Some Republicans, such as Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), have said they would prefer having D.C. retroceded to Maryland, which Maryland has not supported.
Others, such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who was born in Alaska during its bid for statehood, have yet to reveal their position. But advocates will be hard-pressed to find Republican allies….
Note….
Of course Democrats WOULD get 2 new US Senator’s….
Anyone think Republicans would be stupid enough to vote for this?
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STATE OF DC STATEHOOD — TROUBLED: The House is voting today on a bill that would grant D.C. statehood — legislation that Republicans oppose and that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) says he expects will have all House Democrats on board. After all, all but two House Democrats are co-sponsoring the legislation. But the House isn’t where you should be watching.
Our Senate whisperer, Burgess, talked to a number of Senate Democrats who either want more details about the bill, prefer prioritizing other legislation, or are just generally lukewarm on the idea of adding 51st state.
Here is a snapshot of four Senate Dems who aren’t yet on board:
1-Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who co-sponsored D.C. statehood legislation the last go around: “I supported D.C. statehood so I haven’t really studied this bill enough to know whether I’m going to sponsor it or not.”
2-Sen. Angus King (I-Maine): “I’m not signed on yet. I’m still sort of pondering it. There are just other issues that I’m more engaged in at this point. I haven’t really dug into it.”
3-Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.): “We’re just still discussing it. I haven’t really gotten into any of that — I have so much other stuff going on.”
4-Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.): “Like a lot of things like this, I want to see the details. This is pretty straightforward, but in general I feel that every American has a right to representation in the United States Congress. And there are a lot of folks that live here in D.C. There are a lot of options to do that … I think our democracy is best served when folks have representation in the United States Congress.”
There is also Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.), another mod, who hasn’t weighed in on this issue.
Related: These are the wildest Republican arguments against D.C. statehood, by Forbes’ Andrew Solender: https://bit.ly/3ndQ1av | It would be a lot easier if Republicans just said they didn’t want D.C. to have two senators, by WaPo’s Philip Bump: https://wapo.st/2QPCIAR | WSJ’s Editorial Board argues in a new Op-Ed the DC statehood push is “unconstitutional”: https://on.wsj.com/3n91YOE