The Biden administration “strongly supports” a current measure in Congress seeking to establish Washington, D.C. as a state.
“For far too long, the more than 700,000 people of Washington, D.C. have been deprived of full representation in the U.S. Congress,” the statement reads. “This taxation without representation and denial of self-governance is an affront to the democratic values on which our Nation was founded.”
The statement from the Office of Management and Budget came as part of a list of official administration policy statements on measures currently being discussed in Congress.
The D.C. statehood measure, formally called H.R. 51, would make the area the 51st state while maintaining a Federal District that encompasses the country’s national government buildings.
“This bill provides for admission into the United States of the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, composed of most of the territory of the District of Columbia. The commonwealth shall be admitted to the Union on an equal footing with the other states,” the measure states.
The measure is expected to pass in the House of Representatives in a vote on Thursday. However, it is expected to hit some roadblocks in the Senate.
“The Administration calls for the Congress to provide for a swift and orderly transition to statehood for the people of Washington, D.C.,” the administration’s policystatement continues.
The District of Columbia has more than an estimated 705,000 residents, which, according to 2019 data, is more people than the State of Vermont or the State of Wyoming.
