The centrist Senator is the first Democrat to oppose the creation of a 51st state.
The campaign to add Washington, DC as the 51st state always faced low odds in the Senate, but now the bill has its first Democratic detractor — Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. In a radio interview with West Virginia’s MetroNews Talkline Friday, Manchin threw cold water on the thus-far unified Democratic effort to approve DC statehood. Legislation to add the District as the 51st state passed the House last week on a strictly party-line vote, sending the bill to the Senate. “If Congress wants to make DC a state, it should propose a constitutional amendment,” Manchin said. “Let the people of America vote.” In the 50-50 Senate, where any bill would need 60 votes to clear procedural hurdles, the bill was likely on its way to death by filibuster anyway. But the loss of Manchin — who has also vocally stood in the way of Democrats’ plans to reform the filibuster, implement a $15 minimum wage, and President Joe Biden’s federal spending and taxation plans — stings for statehood advocates and progressives alike. Thus far,46 Senate Democrats have come out in favor of the bill, according to The Washington Post, as well as President Biden. Three have yet to take a stance, though one, Sen.
