Apr
18
Say “No!” to DC Statehood
America’s Founding Fathers had good reasons for creating an independent, non-voting District as the seat of government for the United States. As David Harsanyi has pointed out, they were “concerned about the seat of federal power being controlled by a hostile or intrusive state government.” Also, if the capital were in a state (or its own state), the people would [most likely] vote to grow and accumulate federal power. Either situation would violate the proper separation of powers and state rights.
Yet, once again we find a certain contingent — i.e., Leftists in Congress — pushing for statehood for the District of Columbia. (The new state would presumably be named “New Columbia”.) In fact, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform passed H.R. 51 by a vote of 25-19 the other day, and the entire House of Representatives will vote on the bill this Tuesday (4/20/2021).
There are three constitutional problems with trying to make the District into a state by legislation now. First, Article I, Section 8, gives the U.S. Congress permanent and plenary power over the District. But, a state has its own constitution, legislature, executive, etc. So, making the District a full state would be an abrogation of power that the Constitution explicitly assigns to Congress alone.
Second, Article IV, Section 3, says that no new state may be created out of the territory of an existing state without that state’s permission. The District was originally formed from territory ceded by Virginia and Maryland, expressly for the seat of the federal government and not to make a new state. Virginia’s donated land was returned in 1846, but Maryland would still have to give its permission to re-purpose the land. As of yet, Maryland has not agreed to this, and the economic impact on it would be heavy if it did.
Third, the 23rd Amendment grants the appointment of electors for the District, thereby allowing DC citizens to vote in national elections, and it includes language which recognizes the District as a permanent constitutional entity (of a certain size) that is not a state. The 23rd Amendment also presents a potential issue since it puts a cap on the number of electors it can have, currently three (i.e., same as least populous state). Of course, if the Left has their way, they will eliminate the Electoral College anyway.
These three constitutional problems are discussed in more detail, along with the history of D.C., the issue of statehood, and much more, in a 1993 report by R. Hewitt Page here. Page also mentions this interesting fact:
“Every Justice Department that has addressed the question, from the Kennedy Administration to the Bush Administration, has concluded that the Constitution does not allow for legislative alteration of the District’s status. Each administration has addressed different proposals and emphasized different constitutional problems, but the unanimity remains. The legality of D.C. statehood, as opposed to its wisdom, simply is not a partisan issue.”
When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia sat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, he also agreed that it was unconstitutional.
The Democrats cannot legally make D.C. into a state without one or more amendments to the Constitution being passed to circumvent the above problems. Yet, the Democrat majority in the current Congress is pushing forward without any such amendments even being proposed. Are they stupid? (Don’t answer that.) Is this all just “theater”? If so, for what purpose? I suspect this upcoming vote may be a trial balloon, and if they think they have sufficient support, then they will quickly introduce the necessary amendment legislation (which could be more of a problem for them), followed by a tweaked version of H.R. 51.
What is the big hurry? Peter J. Thomas, Chairman of The Conservative Caucus (TCC), sums it up nicely:
“[T]here is NO rational or Constitutional reason to make leftist Washington, D.C., the 51st state. But there is a HUGE political reason: Two more hard-core socialist U.S. Senators and one more hard-core socialist U.S. Representative in the House!
That means three more votes in Congress for open borders, massive new taxes, rationed health care, a bankrupt U.S. Treasury, gun confiscation, the criminalization of free speech and religious liberty, the “Green New Deal” and huge increases in energy costs, the nationalization of our election system, a Supreme Court packed with socialist Jurists, and the total canceling of our culture and heritage.
THAT is why the Biden/Schumer/Pelosi socialists want statehood for Washington, D.C. It would amount to one of the final nails in the coffin of our Republic… and it must be prevented at all costs!”
Page concludes his report as follows:
“The basic question to be asked is this: if D.C. were made a state (whether in its entirety or by shrinkage), could it continue to serve the Framers’ intent in providing for a national seat of government? Would D.C. statehood allow the government to work in an area under its own control without unseemly state interference and dependence? Looking merely at the physical realities, the answer must be “no.” Under the Constitution, if D.C. statehood is to come at all, it must be through the amendment process. The people of the fifty states, through their state legislatures, must have their say on this fundamental change to our national capital and the Constitution that created it.”
Making D.C. into a state is an incredibly bad idea for the nation and (currently) an illegal one. It’s that simple.
