Free Republic

In 2020, one hitherto unknown report accurately predicted what was to follow Biden’s election. It also laid out a plan to preserve democracy in an uncertain future. Weeks before the 2020 election, a secret 87-page document outlined in matter-of-fact language the threat posed by Donald Trump’s still-to-come campaign of election denial. The private paper — the existence of which has not been reported before — forecast with chilling confidence the likelihood of violence during the presidential handover and proposed a far-reaching set of political reforms to thwart Trumpism in the future. Americans remember that dark winter well. But the impetus...

Sen. Joe Manchin on Friday said that he did not support the D.C. statehood bill, a blow to advocates pushing to make it the 51st state after the legislation passed the House last week."If Congress wants to make D.C. a state, it should propose a constitutional amendment ... and let the people of America vote," the West Virginia Democrat told Hoppy Kercheval of West Virginia's MetroNews in a radio interview.

"How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg?" asked President Abraham Lincoln, who answered his own question: "Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn't make it a leg." And Congress' saying that D.C. is a state would equally contradict truth and reality, as our nation's capital lacks all of the attributes of a 51st state of the Union. Whence came our capital of Washington, D.C.? The city was carved out of Maryland and Virginia in 1790, which voted to cede 100 square miles on the Potomac for a capital city of the...

The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted 216-208 last week to pass a bill that would grant statehood to Washington, D.C. During an interview on Newsmax, Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert revealed the sneaky reason Democrats did this: unlimited power grab. Gohmert said Democrats' push for statehood for D.C. is based on an argument of "no taxation without representation."

Democrats have been pushing for years to have the District of Columbia officially recognized as the 51st state in America. And on Thursday, they made that happen in a highly partisan vote. The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted 216-208 on Thursday to pass a bill that would grant statehood to Washington, D.C. H.R. 51, otherwise known as the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, would give the district two senators and a voting representative in the House.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday is set to approve, for the second time in less than a year, legislation making the District of Columbia the 51st state in a move sure to further inflame tensions between Democrats and Republicans in Congress. The population of Washington, D.C. is heavily Democratic. As a state, it likely would elect two Democratic senators, potentially changing the balance of power in the Senate, which now has 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans.

Despite numerous arguments against the effort, the push to make Washington, D.C. a state just won't die./em>D.C. statehood is not a novel idea. As the Department of Justice concluded in 1987 in a highly detailed report totaling more than 80 pages: “Efforts to admit the District of Columbia to the Union as a state should be vigorously opposed.” Still, the idea lingers, although never nearing 60 votes in the Senate (or a constitutional amendment for that matter).The passage of time has not brought D.C. statehood closer to 60 votes. But statehood has suddenly become plausible to propose. Indeed, the forceful...

There are numerous principled reasons to oppose D.C. statehood. But, really, no arguments are more applicable than the ones offered by the founders, who created a federal district for the distinct purpose of denying it statehood. First, because they were concerned about the seat of federal power being controlled by a hostile or intrusive state government. Second, because they knew that if the capital were in a state -- much less its own state -- the people would vote to grow and accumulate federal power. Both situations were incompatible with the proper separation of powers and state rights. Today, though,...

With one move, Democrats could reshape government and potentially lock in their majority in the Senate for years to come. Four of their own stand in the way. The party may have just a few months to make it happen—but leaders in the House and Senate are taking their time and arguing about the details. Advocates see statehood for Washington, D.C., as a moral issue, because it would give equal rights and representation to the residents of a city whose population is larger than that of three states. And they see it as a legal issue, because it would clarify...

Last week’s outrage at the Capitol has fomented calls for District of Columbia statehood. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) explained that the riot “made it crystal clear why D.C. officials must have full control over their city’s own security and police force to secure the public safety of its residents.” So, then, statehood will strengthen riot prevention. But when Congress abortively voted for D.C. statehood last June, after Black Lives Matter protests, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said, “Trump’s recent decision to deploy thousands of federal law enforcement officers in D.C. against residents peacefully exercising their constitutionally protected right to protest, and...

When U.S. cities erupted after the death of George Floyd, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was in the vanguard of the protests, renaming a section of downtown Black Lives Matter Plaza, and painting the name in letters on the street so huge they could be seen from space. Thursday, however, Bowser awoke to those same BLM protesters yelling outside her home, denouncing a "D.C. police murder of a Black Man," and demanding the mayor fire Police Chief Peter Newsham. 18-year-old Deon Kay had been shot and killed Wednesday afternoon in an encounter with cops. While this was the fifth shooting by...

The drive to make Washington, D.C., a state has been a favorite of some Democrats for years. Why wouldn't it be? If enacted, a new state, formed from deepest-blue D.C., would create two new Democratic senators and one new Democratic member of the House. For a Democrat, what's not to like? But while there have been lots of D.C. statehood bills over the years, the issue has been voted on only once before. In 1993, it failed badly in the House, losing 277 to 153. Back then, moderate Democrats put their judgment before partisan interest, splitting on whether statehood was...

The U.S. House on Friday approved legislation to make D.C. the 51st state in the United States. The House vote was the first on D.C. statehood in more than a quarter-century. The vote was 232-180. While it marks the first time the House has passed a D.C. statehood bill, the Republican-controlled Senate has no plans to take it up. The bill would establish a federal district of two square miles, comprising the Capitol and White House, the National Mall and other major federal buildings. The rest of the District would become a state called Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, named for the...

House Democrats, in their first hearing on D.C. statehood in more than 25 years, on Thursday advocated for the District of Columbia to become the country’s 51st state as Republicans raised concerns about recent corruption scandals involving local D.C. officials. Critics of D.C. statehood have long cited local corruption as one reason to oppose statehood. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said he wanted Thursday’s hearing to delve into the ongoing scandal involving D.C. Councilman Jack Evans. Evans resigned from his role as the chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...

When D.C. voters head to the polls Tuesday, they’ll have the chance to weigh in on a push by city leaders to gain statehood status for the District. Even if the ballot referendum passes — as expected— the long-shot effort to make D.C. the 51st state remains far from a done deal. But D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says giving voters the opportunity to approve a proposed constitution and boundaries is an essential part of the statehood strategy — and the timing may be just right, she says. “We wanted to have our house in order in D.C. and work with...

The D.C. Council unanimously approved the name "State of Washington, D.C." in its push for statehood on Tuesday, rejecting the long-favored name of New Columbia. However, instead of the D.C. standing for District of Columbia, it would refer to Douglass Commonwealth, in honor of Frederick Douglass

Last night in Washington, Joe Biden stated that abused women fear getting "raped again by the system." He also made the push that Washington, D.C. should be its own state, with two U.S. senators. Via the pool report: Piles of Bidens are here. In addition to Kathleen [Biden's daughter], VP Biden's wife Jill, his sons Beau and Hunter, and his granddaughters Maisy and Finnegan are also here. VP Biden began his remarks by praising Kathleen for the passion she brings to the cause. He described his initial push for VAWA in the early 90s, when "nobody thought very much of...

Three members of the Occupy D.C. group said they will begin a hunger Three members of the Occupy D.C. group said they will begin a hunger strike Thursday, ceasing all eating in support of “D.C. democracy” and full voting rights for District residents. But not until after breakfast. Adrian Parsons, Sam Jewler and Kelly Mears began their fast at noon at McPherson Square Park in Northwest Washington. Their last meal consisted of carrot juice, spinach juice, stir-fried vegetables and tofu. At a news conference Thursday afternoon, protesters said they will sustain their hunger strike until D.C. is granted full voting...

President Barack Obama has the wind in his sails. After a decisive victory, he has launched the greatest expansion of federal government in American history. Republicans, still licking their wounds from November's election, have yet to form an effective political opposition. For now, that leaves the Constitution's structural limits on governmental power as the only potent brake on government further reshaping our society. Accordingly, Republicans should be the first to insist that these requirements be strictly observed. Unfortunately, a number of congressional Republicans already are abandoning constitutional fidelity by supporting the D.C. Voting Rights Act. The fact that the Act's...

As residents of Washington D.C. anxiously await the fate of their representational seat in the House, several lawmakers see it as fuel for Puerto Rico gaining a more instrumental voice on Capitol Hill. “The D.C. Voting Rights bill sends the right message to all members of Congress and in that sense it is also good for Puerto Rico,” said Rep. Pedro Pierluisi (D-P.R.), who supports the bill that would add a representational vote in the House for D.C. residents. “To me it is amazing that in the 21st century the U.S. Congress keeps ignoring the wishes of the people of...