Houses Passes Laughable Bill Proposing To Make DC The 51st State

Finally, a state everyone can hate. Actually, Washington D.C. is pretty cool, if you remove the politicians who are trying to divide the country.

But if they continue to exist, they may as well have their own state. That said, it would take a miracle to make it happen, even after the Democratic-controlled House approved legislation that would make D.C. the 51st state.

Thursday's party line vote of 216-208 is backed by the Biden administration. Of course, there is also opposition to the bill -- and yes, from both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.

"Proponents cast the bill as a civil-rights priority, saying the city’s residents deserve full self-rule and representation in Congress," wrote Eliza Collins of The Wall Street Journal. "Critics call it a power grab by Democrats to gain two more senators and point to possible constitutional hurdles."

None of this means the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth (as it supposedly would be called) is a sure thing. Far from it. This actually marks the second time the House has approved the idea, having failed to push it through in a 1993 vote. It passed last year, then never really brought up again.

"Republicans argue that Congress doesn’t have the authority to make D.C. a state with regular legislation, and instead it would require amending the Constitution, a much higher bar that requires ratification by three-quarters of the states," Collins wrote. "They say the city is too closely tied to the federal government and too small to operate as a true state, and also charge Democrats want statehood to increase their voting power in Congress."