House to vote to make Washington D.C. the 51st state

PBS ^ | 6/16/20

[davius]

Far better to exclude all residences and reestablish the District of Columbia as a federal enclave. If people want to sell their house, let the feds buy them. Else the owner can convert their property to commercial space and lease it out. The feds can reimburse dislocated individuals with the proviso that no one ever resides (or votes) in the district again.

[Old Yeller]

You can’t make a state from one city!!!

Who do they think they are? Singapore?

[epluribus_2]

Makes no sense. Federal District. Contents belong to All States. Should never have allowed residential areas.

[Lurking Libertarian]

Shouldn’t something this need a very high threshold for passing? Like 2/3rds of the Senate, and a majority of all states legislatures also approving of a new state?

Ordinarily, admitting a new state just requires a majority vote of both houses of Congress. The only exception is if a state is formed out of part of an existing state, in which case that state's legislature must consent. (U.S. Const., Art. IV).

D.C., however, is a whole different kettle of fish, because its status is already governed by the 23rd Amendment, so this would require a constitutional amendment, which isn't going to happen.

[elpadre]

Is the House really back in session??

[SmokingJoe]

From Townhall.com:

In polling conducted by the pro-Collins 1820 PAC, the fourth-term senator trailed Democratic opponent Sara Gideon by 10 points at the end of the impeachment trial—a significant deficit for a senator who rarely saw her approval dip underwater before this campaign. But in a sign that public opinion is still volatile in Maine, Collins was able to close her polling deficit by late April, aided by positive advertising about her work helping Mainers in the midst of the pandemic, particularly her coauthorship of the successful Paycheck Protection Program. An internal survey taken for 1820 PAC by the Tarrance Group in late April, obtained by National Journal, found Collins reemerging with a narrow lead over Gideon, 48 to 47 percent. The poll found her favorability rating had increased 7 points from January to April, and stood at 53 percent.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2020/06/16/senate-update-susan-collins-bouncing-back-ernst-slightly-trailing-n2570614

[Lurking Libertarian]

The process for statehood is not outlined in the Constitution.

Read Article IV.

[AC86UT89]

FFS just give the territory back to Maryland and then relocate the various departments and bureaucracies around the country.

[fuzzylogic]

They’re nuts.

I’m going to enjoy RBG being replaced during the next 4 years.

[deport]

Twenty-Third Amendment - U.S. Constitution

Section 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelth article of amendment.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

23rd Amendment Annotations
Enfranchisement of Residents of District of Columbia

‘’The purpose of this. . . constitutional amendment is to provide the citizens of the District of Columbia with appropriate rights of voting in national elections for President and Vice President of the United States. It would permit District citizens to elect Presidential electors who would be in addition to the electors from the States and who would participate in electing the President and Vice President.

‘’The District of Columbia, with more than 800,000 people, has a greater number of persons than the population of each of 13 of our States. District citizens have all the obligations of citizenship, including the payment of Federal taxes, of local taxes, and service in our Armed Forces. They have fought and died in every U.S. war since the District was founded. Yet, they cannot now vote in national elections because the Constitution has restricted that privi lege to citizens who reside in States. The resultant constitutional anomaly of imposing all the obligations of citizenship without the most fundamental of its privileges will be removed by the proposed constitutional amendment. . .

‘’[This] . . . amendment would change the Constitution only to the minimum extent necessary to give the District appropriate participation in national elections. It would not make the District of Columbia a State. It would not give the District of Columbia any other attributes of a State or change the constitutional powers of the Congress to legislate with respect to the District of Columbia and to prescribe its form of government. . . . It would, however, perpetuate recognition of the unique status of the District as the seat of Federal Government under the exclusive legislative control of Congress.’’ 1

[LegendHasIt]

I’m not sure which would be worse, Making D.C. a State, or making Puerto Rico a State.

[VeniVidiVici]

Wouldn’t this need an amendment to the Constitution?

[VeniVidiVici]

You can’t make a state from one city!!!

Says who?

Hey troll. Support your argument.

[wiley]

I’m for dissolving the D.C. and giving the land back to Maryland and Virginia.

At the same time, let’s have a declaration that the actual capitol district with the White House, Supreme Court, and Congress are a Federal Monument/Reserve under the jurisdiction of the Federal Park service, the US Marshall service, and the Secret Service.

There should be no residents in this area - use right of eminent domain to move out (with proper compensation) any persons residing in the new Capitol District.

[enduserindy]

I don’t want to bet but God help us if you’re right.

[stremba]

Actually it would only require that Maryland give consent; Virginia is irrelevant. The land that Virginia ceded to create the district was returned to Virginia prior to the Civil War. This land is the area now occupied by Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia. The land currently comprising DC is entirely land ceded by Maryland.

This points to a historical precedent; the majority of DC could be returned to Maryland. The residential areas could be returned while retaining only Federally owned buildings, monuments, etc. as part of the district.

This would be a wholly appropriate action IMO. The idea of a Federal district is somewhat obsolete today. The main impetus for it was that the national government was seen as being much weaker than the state governments in the years following the Revolution. It was feared that if the Federal capital were located within any state, that state might use its militia and/or other political power to intimidate the Federal Government to act for that state’s benefit. To prevent this, the Federal government was given its own territory and the power to raise forces to defend it if necessary.

The Founders did not anticipate nor intend that this district would grow to become a major city with hundreds of thousands of residents. These people are in fact governed directly by Congress (the city government was authorized by Congress and Congress can still overrule it). These people do not have representation in Congress, so they are truly being taxed without representation. Returning the residential areas to Maryland would solve this issue once and for all. Residents of DC would then, as citizens of Maryland, br represented in Congress, but the Federal government would still not be located within any state.

[bgill]

How about we vote to give it to Canada.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

“Go ahead. Then move the capitol to Kansas City.”

No, no, absolutely not! Don’t want.

[Salvavida]

Someone has to take it for the team. You’ll be alright in the burbs in KS. I was thinking of reviving the east side and push all the rift-raft out........to Kansas....lol.

[Political Junkie Too]

The proper response to this is to complain that the Democrats are wasting valuable time and money on an unconstitutional ploy instead of doing the work of the people.

President Trump should accuse Nancy Pelosi of staging distractions leading up to the election to avoid having to respond to the administration's proposals to get the country back to work.

-PJ