Congressional Democrats appear to have lost a crucial vote in their push to make Washington, D.C., state.
In an interview with Hoppy Kercheval of West Virginia’s MetroNews, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) said he opposes the push by Congress to make Washington, D.C., the country’s 51st state, “They all came to the same conclusion: If Congress wants to make D.C. a state, it should propose a constitutional amendment. It should propose a constitutional amendment.”
“Let the people of America vote,” he added.
Last month, the House voted 216-208 to pass legislation to make Washington, D.C., a state. However, it faces long odds in the Senate, which is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.
The potential new state would be called “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth,” named after George Washington, the first president, and famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
While Manchin said he believes the 23rd Amendment requires a change to the Constitution to make Washington, D.C. a state, Eleanor Holmes Norton, a nonvoting delegate in the House for D.C., said in a statement, “Those who make such an assertion are conflating a policy choice and a constitutional requirement.”- READ MORE
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