House Approves a Voting Seat for D.C

An excerpt from the Washington Post article on this:

The bill's supporters argued that the District deserves full House representation because its residents pay taxes and serve in the U.S. military. They said a D.C. seat could be created under constitutional provisions giving Congress sweeping powers over the District.

This is true, Congress does have sweeping powers over the district since it is a Federal district. However, the problem is that the Constitution - specifically Article I, Section 2 is pretty clear about Congress members being from states.

So, while fair-minded, the current bill is likely unConstitutional and will get bitch-slapped if it ever comes up at SCOTUS.

There are, however, three ways this could be legally addressed in my mind.

• A Constitutional amendment. This was already tried and failed.
• A referrendum on statehood in D.C. It is passed Congress could admit DC as a new state with Congressional and Senate representation. A little shaky on Constitutional grounds since D.C. is not a territory but likely acceptable.
• Recede D.C. back to Maryland whereupon Maryland gains a couple of new congressional districts. But this, too, would probably require a Constitutional amendment.

But creating a bill because it's "right" and having the Dems prance around in voting rights marches demanding fairness cannt be allowed to usurp the Constitution with good intentions.

Do it the right way, Congress. You're exceeding your authority here. Another one for the veto pen.