[MSN] Sen. Joe Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia, said in an interview Friday that he opposes legislation to give Washington, D.C., statehood — effectively killing a Democratic-led effort to reshape the American political map."If Congress wants to make D.C. a state, it should propose a constitutional amendment and let the people of America vote," Manchin told WV MetroNews Talkline, a West Virginia news outlet.
Asked directly if he would oppose unilateral action by Congress to make the district a state, Manchin replied, "Yes, I would."
Stasha Rhodes, the campaign director for the pro-D.C.-statehood group 51 for 51, said in response that Manchin’s state came about by legislation. "It is how West Virginia was admitted in 1863, how Hawaii was admitted in 1959, and how D.C. will be admitted in 2021," she said. "No member of the Senate should deny voting rights to 700,000 mostly Black and brown Washingtonians based on a flimsy understanding of the Constitution and American history."