Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a key swing vote in a push to make the District of Columbia the nation’s 51st state, said Friday he does not support a bill supported by a vast majority of his Democratic colleagues to approve DC statehood.
“If Congress wants to make DC a state, it should propose a constitutional amendment,” Manchin said in a radio interview with West Virginia’s MetroNews Talkline on Friday. “Let the people of America vote.”
The comments come after the “Washington, D.C. Admission Act,” passed the House for the second time in history last week on a strictly party-line vote.
The bill already faced a long shot battle in the Senate, even if its supporters managed to win Manchin’s backing, due to the Senate filibuster which would require support for DC statehood from 60 senators in order to advance.
Manchin’s opposition to the bill, however, follows earlier efforts by the West Virginia Democrat to challenge calls from other Democrats to reform the filibuster.
He has also broken with Democrats on implementing a $15 minimum wage, and on some of President Joe Biden’s plans for federal spending and taxation.
According to the Washington Post, Manchin’s opposition comes as three Democratic colleagues have yet to take a stance, although one — Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) — had cosponsored a bill for D.C. statehood in the last Congress. No Senate Democrats, aside from Manchin, have come out in opposition of the bill.
Manchin told the local radio station in his home state Friday that the issue would end up in the Supreme Court if his colleagues pursue a congressional path, arguing that DC must be added as a state by constitutional amendment.
“Every legal scholar has told us that,” Manchin said. “So why not do it in the right way and let the people see if they want to change?”
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) released a statement on Friday countering those claims, and arguing that the 23rd Amendment did not need to be repealed before Congress could grant statehood to DC.
“Those who make such an assertion are conflating a policy choice and a constitutional requirement,” she said, arguing that no new state had been admitted by constitutional amendment.
“All 37 new states were admitted by Congress, and there has never been a successful constitutional challenge to the admission of a state,” Norton said. “The Constitution commits admission decisions solely to Congress.”
Uh, Manchin, name a state that was added by constitutional amendment. Just one.
Take away the asshole’s parking spot at washington national airport.
Uh, Manchin, by that logic maybe we should eliminate those states that weren’t created via the constitution. All 37 of them, including yours.
Just saying, as a DC Dad with a DC family, this is really disappointing and hurtful.
I get him saying he thinks there is a better way to do this, but that is not the way that is in front of us and I would have thought the prospect of ensuring ~700,000 Americans enjoy their full rights and privileges as US citizens would have motivated him to at least prioritize righting that wrong and at least try to help.
Could you Imagine what LBJ would have done to this spineless prick
He would have been shitting out a new asshole by now
Time to lay it out to him
If you insist on supporting Republicans’ you might as well be one
We can make that happen by cutting your support and pimaring your ass
Regards , The democratic party
He’s not saying that there’s a better way, he’s saying “no”. Going the constitutional amendment route will kill DC statehood, and he needs to be forcefully and repeated asked to state why after 37 consecutive states over 2 centuries being added via congressional legislation, why this time it has to be via constitutional amendment?