The bill, introduced by DC non-voting member of the House of Representatives, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, would reduce the federal capital to a small area encompassing the White House, the Capitol building, the Supreme Court and other buildings along the National Mall. The rest of the city would become state number 51, called Washington, Douglass Commonwealth.
More than 220 Democrats have already co-sponsored the legislation, exceeding the threshold necessary for approval. The bill would grant DC two senators and make the only current representative of the House a voting member.
“DC will never be a state,” Trump said in the interview. “You mean the District of Columbia, one state? Why? So can we have two more Democratic senators and five more congressmen? No thanks. That will never happen.”
“Not only do we not have electoral senators and our congresswoman has no right to vote, but the whims of the federal government can invade even our limited autonomy, and they can do so in a way that is a threat to all American states and the entire American people “Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday. “Let’s fight the cries that we are too liberal or we are too black or there are too many Democrats. Who we choose is our business, and the business of the United States is to make sure that every person is fully represented in this. House and Senate of The United States of America “.
To become a law, supporters of the bill argue that it would only have to pass both houses of Congress with a simple majority and then be signed by the President. They say the legislation’s strategy of resizing the capital’s area would avoid constitutional questions about making the rest of DC a state. But Republicans who oppose the state of DC argue that adding the district as a state would require a constitutional amendment.
During House debate on the bill, Republican Rep. Gregory Murphy of North Carolina called for Congress to cede land to Maryland instead of making DC its own state.
“The move is simply unnecessary when returning DC to Maryland is a viable, cost-effective, and common sense option,” Murphy said.
And Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice said the state of DC is against public opinion and the Constitution.
“What this is really about is an attempt to get two more Democratic senators,” he said.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, rejected in her speech: “The state condition for the district is about showing respect for our democracy,” he said. “It’s not just about the district. It’s about democracy for the American people and for our United States Constitution.”
This story has been updated with additional developments on Friday.
CNN’s Akayla Gardner contributed to this report.
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