DC Statehood: An Imperative Step to Ensure Fair Political Representation for All Americans

By: Eliana Aemro Selassie

Edited by: Anna Westfall and Isabel Gortner

“End taxation without representation”, the iconic slogan that marks license plates in the District of Columbia, is among many tokens of advocacy for DC statehood. DC’s lack of statehood has been a contentious issue for DC residents, who lack adequate political representation, and for Congress, where debates continue on the constitutionality of admitting DC as the 51st state of the United States. DC residents pay more taxes per capita than any other state and DC’s population of over 700,000 outnumbers the populations of states like Wyoming and Vermont, but DC residents do not have fair representation in Congress. [1] The United States is the only nation in the world with a representative democracy that also restricts voting rights for its residents. [1] Advocacy for DC statehood has grown in recent years, as part of an effort to achieve fair representation for DC residents and several arguments have been put forward by civil rights activists and pro-statehood politicians justifying statehood. “No taxation without representation” was one of the key premises of the American Revolution and a major rationale for American independence, marking voting rights as an essential component of being a resident of the United States. [2] This begs the question: if DC residents have all the responsibilities of citizens, specifically taxation, and if the District has a population that outnumbers that of other states, why shouldn’t DC residents receive statehood and adequate political representation?

DC’s classification as a district rather than a state restricts the voting rights of DC residents who only have minimal representation in Congress, with only one representative in the House and no senators. DC’s Congressional representative, Eleanor Holmes Norton, does not have voting power like traditional representatives do but instead can participate in congressional committees and weigh in on issues proposed in Congress. DC also has 2 “shadow senators,” Paul Strauss and Mike Brown, who are not considered official senators and have no voting power but can advocate on behalf of DC residents on political matters. [3] As a result, DC residents lack the same amount of political representation that residents of all 50 states do, without a voice on congressional issues and representatives in Congress who can vote to induce political changes. DC’s local government also differs considerably from most states, since it is responsible for the functions of both state and city governments. DC is governed by a mayor and a city council of 13 members with the capacity to create DC’s legal codes, unlike states that have a governor and a state congress. DC’s city council also operates its public school system and police force, simulating the functions of city governments. [3] 

Despite these autonomous aspects of DC’s government, DC is still subject to Congressional approval for many major political decisions in the district. Congress has immense authority over DC’s budget, under the Home Rule Act which allows Congress the right to “review and nullify” any legislation created by the DC government. [4] This has been restrictive to the DC government on several occasions. A notable example is Congress’ persistent efforts to limit DC’s capacity to control and tax cannabis markets, despite cannabis being legal in DC since 2014. [4] Congress also blocked needle exchange programs from 1998-2007, preventing the allocation of important funding to address the HIV/AIDs epidemic in DC. [5] Furthermore, during the COVID-19 pandemic, DC was denied $775 million in emergency funds under the Coronavirus Relief Fund. DC was treated as a territory instead of a state, restricting access to federal resources for DC residents. [4]

These examples present the impacts of a lack of statehood on not only DC’s healthcare system but also on the DC government’s jurisdiction and capacity to provide vital resources and funding to its constituents. DC’s lack of statehood became especially controversial concerning DC’s jurisdiction over deploying the National Guard, which is the responsibility of state governors and the president in the event of emergencies. This became apparent during the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, when President Trump deployed the National Guard in DC in June 2020 to suppress peaceful Black Lives Matter rallies, which many DC residents viewed as an invasive measure. Furthermore, during the January 6th insurrection, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser was unable to call in the National Guard to repress insurrectionists because DC is not a state and has no governor, a measure that called  DC’s lack of statehood into question as a safety issue. [4]

DC’s absence of statehood has also been considered a civil rights issue given DC’s large black population. [6] DC’s population is 47% black, demonstrating how a lack of voting rights plays a key role in restricting the voting rights of black Americans. This is part of a larger phenomenon of black disenfranchisement since the average black person in the US only has 75% of the voting representation of the average white person. [7] A number of civil rights activists have attributed the continued restriction of voting rights to DC residents throughout DC’s history as part of the systemic withholding of rights for black people. [8] If DC was admitted as the 51st state, it would be the only state where black people are not a minority and would make up nearly half the population, marking a potentially instrumental measure to improving the conditions of black Americans through increased voter representation. 

Statehood is primarily opposed by members of the Republican Party since DC’s predominantly liberal population would likely ensure 2 more democratic senators in Congress if it were to receive statehood. This view has been upheld by a number of Republicans, most notably Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said “With two more liberal senators, we cannot undo the damage they’ve done”. [9] Many Republican politicians have contested DC statehood, arguing that it necessitates a constitutional amendment and opposes the initial intentions of the Framers when they designated DC as the capital of the United States. [6] DC’s lack of voting rights started in Article 1 of the Constitution which allowed Congress to create a “federal capital district”, where the Framers failed to provide voting representation for DC residents. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 later gave Congress “jurisdiction” over DC territory and limited voting rights for DC residents. [4] Opponents of DC statehood rely on constitutionalist thinking to strike down DC statehood. 

However, several legal experts co-signed a letter in 2021 to Congress upholding DC statehood. Lauren Tribe of Harvard Law School and Caroline Frederickson of Georgetown Law School argued that the Constitution allows for new states to be admitted to the union, a practice that was commonly used in the late 19th century to admit Western territories to the union. [6] The letter was part of a growing effort among legal scholars to justify the rationality and constitutionality of DC statehood, particularly as the DC Admission Act was being considered in Congress. The Washington DC Admission Act passed through the House in 2020 and 2021, a political measure that would admit DC as the 51st state of the US. [4]  Under the DC Admission Act, the capital would be defined with federal buildings like the White House, the Supreme Court, and the Capitol included under federal sovereignty, while the rest of DC is considered a state. The Act failed to pass through the Senate, illustrating continued efforts to prevent the establishment of DC as a state. [6] Despite this failure, the growing amount of scholarship justifying statehood illustrates the faults in the arguments of its opponents, providing more rationale for DC’s admission as the 51st state. 

The importance of voting rights has been consistently emphasized throughout the history of the United States and its position as a representative democracy, making DC statehood a necessity to ensure the voting rights and accurate representation of all Americans are actively upheld. Leah Litman at the University of Michigan Law School said, “The normative reason for [DC statehood] is democracy”, arguing that all citizens deserve the right to fair representation under the democratic ideals of the United States. [6] Furthermore, DC statehood poses potential risks to the accessibility of DC residents to federal resources and the DC government’s ability to govern without intervention from Congress. DC statehood is also a civil rights issue, where restricting access to voting rights for the people of DC is effectively an additional barrier to equal voting rights for black residents of the United States. Overall, DC statehood is a political necessity to ensure DC residents have fair representation and access to federal resources as well as to maintain the voting rights that have been characterized as integral to the United States and its democratic ideals.

Notes: 

1. Government of the District of Columbia. DC Statehood. n.d. “About DC Statehood.” Accessed January 30, 2024. https://statehood.dc.gov/page/about-dc-statehood. 

2. NCC Staff. 2022. “On this day: “No taxation without representation!” | Constitution Center.” The National Constitution Center, October 7, 2022. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/no-taxation-without-representation. 

3. Schultz, Kyley. 2021. “What does the constitution say about DC statehood? House latest.” WUSA9, January 18, 2021. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/is-washington-dc-a-city-or-a-state-does-dc-have-a-governor-explainer-and-fact-check/65-1f276d84-9d06-425b-9bf8-fa0743d0f0d2.  

4. Efrati, Maya, Lauren Eisen, and Ram Subramanian. 2022. “DC Statehood Explained.” Brennan Center for Justice, March 18, 2022. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/dc-statehood-explained. 

5. Hauslohner, Abigail. 2015. “Study: Needle-exchange program leads to big drop in D.C. HIV infections.” Washington Post, September 3, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/study-needle-exchange-program-leads-to-big-drop-in-dc-hiv-infections/2015/09/02/ce383e14-51a5-11e5-9812-92d5948a40f8_story.html. 

6. Sargent, Greg. 24. “The campaign for D.C. statehood just got a big boost.” The Washington Post, May 2021, 24. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/24/dc-statehood-constitutional-letter/?next_url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/24/dc-statehood-constitutional-letter/. 

7. Government of the District of Columbia. n.d. “Why Statehood for DC | statehood.” DC Statehood. Accessed January 30, 2024. https://statehood.dc.gov/page/why-statehood-dc. 

8. Sommers, Kyla. 2021. “Perspective | The battle against D.C. statehood is rooted in anti-Black racism.” Washington Post, March 22, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/03/22/battle-against-dc-statehood-is-rooted-anti-black-racism/. 

9. Forgey, Quint. 2020. “'We will stand our post': McConnell defends GOP Senate, urges against D.C. statehood.” Politico, August 28, 2020. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/27/mitch-mcconnell-rnc-speech-404006. 

Bibliography:

Efrati, Maya, Lauren Eisen, and Ram Subramanian. 2022. “DC Statehood Explained.” Brennan Center for Justice, March 18, 2022. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/dc-statehood-explained.

Forgey, Quint. 2020. “'We will stand our post': McConnell defends GOP Senate, urges against D.C. statehood.” Politico, August 28, 2020. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/27/mitch-mcconnell-rnc-speech-404006.

Government of the District of Columbia. DC Statehood. n.d. “About DC Statehood.” Accessed January 30, 2024. https://statehood.dc.gov/page/about-dc-statehood.

Government of the District of Columbia. n.d. “Why Statehood for DC.” DC Statehood. Accessed January 30, 2024. https://statehood.dc.gov/page/why-statehood-dc.

Hauslohner, Abigail. 2015. “Study: Needle-exchange program leads to big drop in D.C. HIV infections.” Washington Post, September 3, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/study-needle-exchange-program-leads-to-big-drop-in-dc-hiv-infections/2015/09/02/ce383e14-51a5-11e5-9812-92d5948a40f8_story.html.

NCC Staff. 2022. “On this day: “No taxation without representation!” | Constitution Center.” The National Constitution Center, October 7, 2022. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/no-taxation-without-representation. 

Sargent, Greg. 24. “The campaign for D.C. statehood just got a big boost.” The Washington Post, May 2021, 24. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/24/dc-statehood-constitutional-letter/?next_url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/24/dc-statehood-constitutional-letter/.  

Schultz, Kyley. 2021. “What does the constitution say about DC statehood? House latest.” WUSA9, January 18, 2021. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/is-washington-dc-a-city-or-a-state-does-dc-have-a-governor-explainer-and-fact-check/65-1f276d84-9d06-425b-9bf8-fa0743d0f0d2. 

Sommers, Kyla. 2021. “Perspective | The battle against D.C. statehood is rooted in anti-Black racism.” Washington Post, March 22, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/03/22/battle-against-dc-statehood-is-rooted-anti-black-racism/.