The Big Trouble if DC Becomes the 51st State

Select video clips courtesy of Getty Images

Select video clips courtesy of the AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors and GEOlayers 3

[SethJulian]

Could you imagine a president's family and staff being basically the only voters and then said president loses DC? I'm dead just thinking about it.

[drmadjdsadjadi]

The president typically is not considered a resident of DC but instead maintains his or her residency from his original state, just like our members of Congress. This is why the sitting president always goes back to their home state to vote.

[lutherd]

There would not be 436 representatives. The total is set by law at 435. The allotment would be reapportioned between the 51 states.

[dodgeplow]

it may be easier to remove most of the federal district designation, return the land to Virginia and Maryland, and only have tiny enclave of a few federal buildings under federal control, not an entire city.

[taotaoliu]

Fun fact: The Pentagon isn’t located in Washington DC: it’s located in Arlington, Virginia.

[nickygionis]

As someone who's lived in DC my whole life, I'm glad you finally covered this topic. However, not being a state doesn't just mean DC residents have no representation in Congress. It also means that the federal government can basically repeal any local law they don't like that we voted for ourselves (This has happened a few times and is pretty fucked up tbh). We also don't have our own state prison system meaning that people who are convicted are moved across the entire country to federal prisons.

[opossumlvr]

If the issue was about representation, the residents of D.C. would be willing to join the State of Maryland or Virginia. There isn't any need for residential areas to be included in D.C. so an easy solution is to make the district smaller.

[parkpartyytmusic]

The biggest issue with a state of Columbia is that it would mess up the nice even number of 50 states

[MrMac]

A correction. Carl B Stokes was the first elected African American mayor of a major US city in Cleveland. Cleveland at that time had around 800, 000 residents.

[IftinAbshir]

Interesting fact, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands also all have non-voting Representatives in Congress and Puerto Rico has Congressional representation through a position called a Resident Commissioner who also does not have voting rights.

[ChrisBrengel]

Thanks for the video. You obviously did lots of research! As a resident of Washington d.c. I think it sucks that I don't have representation in Congress! I had no idea that stayed had actually got so close to passing in Congress! I am a Democrat, but I can totally see why Republicans are not interested in having two Democratic senators added to the Senate. Having Maryland take back the land they gave for DC seems to make the most sense to me, but it sounds like they are not interested.

[arlanhowe]

Great video but I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't mention that much of it is an endorheic basin. That kind of goes along with it being dry and aired and desert, but I think it kind of adds another level as to why a lot of it can't be farmed or inhabited.

[seanhoude]

Yes, the whole point of D.C. was so no state would host the nation's capital. Few people, aside from federally elected representatives and staff, were ever expected to live there.

[barnettder]

⚠️ CORRECTION - With all due respect to Walter Washington, the first African American mayor of a major US city was Carl Stokes, elected in Cleveland in 1967.

[teamcybr]

Why not make the federal district smaller like in the plan at 17:00, and merge the rest back into Maryland and Virginia?

[jcarp]

"One State to rule them all, one State to find them, one State to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them; In the Land of DC where the shadows lie."

[AlistairZands]

Citizens of Washington D.C. get to vote for mayor for the first time, and they immediately vote in a guy named Washington

EDIT: For the people saying that this is incorrect, 9:48 in the video blatantly explains DC residents were able to vote on mayor and elected Walter Washington.

[mr.gawsome]

It would be interesting to see a similar video for Puerto Rico becoming a state too! Nice video as always :)

[RengokuDeDonut]

Bro “No Taxation Without Representation” coming back 💀

[joetolopino]

The federal district was carved out of Maryland and Virginia originally. The part across the river was given back to Virginia. If anything, the residents within the district should be considered citizens of Maryland as far as representation goes. Were out Capitol to ever move, it would be given back to Maryland and 10 miles square carved out of whatever state it was moved to.

There's no provision to create a state out of what in essence belongs to Maryland. So no, it cannot ever be a state.