Washington, D.C. Admission Act
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Norton (for herself, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill admits Washington, D.C. as the 51st state, to be named "Washington, Douglass Commonwealth" (after Frederick Douglass). It creates a smaller federal "Capital" district containing only the White House, Capitol, Supreme Court, and core federal buildings, while the rest of D.C. becomes the new state with full congressional representation.
Who Benefits and How
D.C. residents (approximately 700,000 people) gain full voting representation in Congress: 2 Senators and 1 Representative, plus electoral votes for president. Currently, D.C. has no voting members in Congress despite paying federal taxes. D.C. government employees, retirees, judges, public defenders, and court workers benefit from continued federal pension and benefit protections during the transition. Students continue receiving federal education scholarships until the state provides equivalent programs.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The federal government takes on significant transitional costs, continuing to fund D.C.'s courts, prosecutors, parole system, public defenders, and retirement benefits until the new state assumes these responsibilities. Federal taxpayers will bear these ongoing costs. The new state cannot tax the substantial federal property within its borders, limiting its tax base. State election officials across all 50 states must process absentee registrations from Capital residents voting in their prior home states.
Key Provisions
- Admits D.C. as the 51st state with 2 Senators, 1 Representative, and increases House size to 436 members permanently
- Creates a reduced federal Capital district (non-residential) containing only core federal buildings
- Continues federal funding for D.C. courts, prosecutors, parole, public defenders, and pensions until the state takes over
- Allows residents of the federal Capital to vote by absentee ballot in their prior state of residence
- Establishes expedited congressional procedures to repeal the 23rd Amendment (D.C. electoral votes)
- Creates an 18-member Statehood Transition Commission to manage the transition
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Admits Washington, D.C. as the 51st state named 'Washington, Douglass Commonwealth' while preserving a reduced federal Capital district containing core federal buildings.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Grant full congressional representation and statehood to D.C. residents while maintaining a constitutionally-required federal district through a reduced 'Capital' area containing only core federal buildings."
Likely Beneficiaries
- D.C. residents (gain full voting representation: 2 Senators, 1 Representative)
- D.C. government employees (continuity of federal benefits and employment protections)
- D.C. retirees (continued federal pension obligations)
- D.C. public defender and court employees (continued federal benefits)
- Students in D.C. (continued college tuition assistance programs)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Federal government (continued funding obligations for courts, prosecutors, prisons, parole)
- U.S. taxpayers (continued Medicaid matching rates and education funding)
- Capital residents (cannot vote for state representation, must vote in prior domicile state for federal elections)
- Federal agencies in the Capital (jurisdictional changes and renaming requirements)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_mayor"
- → Mayor of the District of Columbia (later Governor of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth)
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "ncpc_chair"
- → Chair of National Capital Planning Commission
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_state"
- → State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth
- "the_attorney_general"
- → Attorney General of the United States
- "the_attorney_general"
- → Attorney General of the United States
- "federal_government"
- → Federal Government of the United States
- "us_marshals"
- → United States Marshals Service
- "the_attorney_general"
- → Attorney General of the United States
- "us_parole_commission"
- → United States Parole Commission
- "the_state"
- → State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_commission"
- → Statehood Transition Commission
Note: 'The State' refers to Washington, Douglass Commonwealth after admission, but the District of Columbia before admission
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A person who resides in the Capital and is qualified to vote in a State (or would be but for residing in the Capital), but only if the State is the last place in which the person was domiciled before residing in the Capital.
The area serving as the seat of the Government of the United States, as described in section 112, consisting of principal Federal monuments, the White House, the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court Building, and Federal executive, legislative, and judicial office buildings.
The Council of the District of Columbia.
The Mayor of the District of Columbia.
The State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth.
The proposed Constitution of the State of Washington, DC, as approved by the Council on October 18, 2016, ratified by District of Columbia voters in Advisory Referendum B approved on November 8, 2016.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology