WASHINGTON – Democrats controlling the House have slated a vote next week to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, an issue that they say has become far more important in the aftermath of protests for racial justice in both Washington and across the nation.Next Friday’s vote, if successful, would pass a D.C.
statehood bill for the first time in the House, but the legislation faces insurmountable opposition in the GOP-controlled Senate.
It comes even as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced delays in the consideration of most other legislation. More than enough lawmakers are officially backing the bill for it to pass.