White House discussing tweaks to D.C. statehood bill to 'allay concerns' in Senate

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Washington Post

The White House is talking to members of Congress about potential changes to the D.C. statehood bill that could reduce opposition in the Senate, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.

The Biden administration’s involvement in negotiating the bill’s future follows its strong endorsement of D.C. statehood last month, just before the Washington, D.C. Admission Act was approved by the House on a strict party-line vote.

The bill’s odds are much steeper in the evenly divided Senate, with Republicans dismissing D.C. statehood as an unconstitutional Democratic power grab.

“Our view is that admitting D.C. as a state is well within Congress’s power and that the arguments to the contrary are faulty,” Psaki said during a White House news briefing. “But we also think there are ways to allay the concerns that have been raised. And that’s why we’re working with Congress to make the bill as strong as possible.”

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-discussing-tweaks-to-dc-statehood-bill-to-allay-concerns-in-senate/ar-BB1gHgYX?ocid=DELLDHP&li=BBnb7Kz

[bucolic_frolic]

1. If Republicans don't like statehood

Apportion those 700,000 Democratic votes over 50 states, 14,000 to each state, that should make a difference.

[keithbvadu2]

2. What does Moscow Mitch want? That D.C. residents only count as 3/5 of a person?

What does Moscow Mitch want?

That D.C. residents only count as 3/5 of a person?

???

[groundloop]

3. What 'tweaks' can the possibly make.... either DC becomes a state or it doesn't.

[NYC Liberal]

4. The 23rd Amendment gives 3 electoral votes to the federal district.

The DC statehood bill shrinks the federal district to only federally owned land. So if the bill passes, the federal district would still have its electoral votes, but the only people living there would be the president and his family. So one family would decide 3 electoral votes.

The 'tweak' is an amendment to the statehood bill to give the 3 electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote rather than having a 'popular vote' of 2-3 people in the federal district.

(And the bill already has language calling for the repeal of the 23rd Amendment but that will take longer.)

[Polybius]

5. Tweaking those 3 EV's would certainly trigger a court challenge

How would this SC rule?

[NYC Liberal]

6. The 23rd Amendment allows Congress to decide how the district's electors are chosen:

The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State

No popular vote mandated (just like states).

[regnaD kciN]

7. But wouldn't that go by the board if D.C. became a state...

...since it was no longer a non-state territory?

My guess is that the only acceptable "compromise" for Republicans would be if they simultaneously allowed the rural eastern half of deep-blue Oregon or Washington to become a separate state as well, giving them two more safe Senate seats in exchange for the two safe Senate seats we'd pick up from D.C. Nothing, and I mean nothing, else would be satisfactory to Republicans, as any D.C. statehood would tip the balance of Senate power to the Democratic side.

[NYC Liberal]

8. The 23rd Amendment gives electoral votes to the "district constituting the seat of government."

The DC Statehood Bill would shrink the district to only federal property. The State of DC (whatever they call it) would have its electoral votes as a state. But the federal district, constitutionally, also gets electoral votes -- even if it just consists of federal buildings. The issue is that the only people who would live in the district would be, essentially, the president and Vice President and their family.

Anyway, you're right, the GOP will never vote for it.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

10. Do the president and family vote in DC? Or do they vote in their home state?

I thought Trump voted absentee, either in NY or FL. Or both.

[reACTIONary]

12. If they were able to get three free ev's I'm sure...

... they would vote in the "seat of government".

[Hekate]

9. Excellent. All the best to them. nt

[reACTIONary]

11. Here is the WaPo link...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-statehood-white-house-23rd-amendment/2021/05/13/523fab86-b3fa-11eb-ab43-bebddc5a0f65_story.html

Here is the original report in the NYT

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/us/politics/biden-dc-statehood.html