statehood

In 1901, the city proposed the McMillan Plan, which set out to fully complete L’Enfant’s original designs. This included a redesign and expansion of the National Mall, now the crown jewel of DC. The city continued to expand and develop during the rest of the 20th century, though it suffered riots and civil unrest in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and many residents left inner city areas for the suburbs. Today, these downtown areas are undergoing an urban renaissance, and many people are moving back into Washington itself.

Though a capital city, it is ironic that residents of Washington lack full self-governance. Representation in Congress is limited to a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives and a shadow senator. In 1964, Washingtonians were first allowed to vote in Presidential elections; the city was allowed to elect its own mayor only in 1973.

It remains a vibrant and culturally diverse city today. The city is rich with international exposures, African American heritage & culture, as well as it’s also one of America’s most homosexual-friendly cities. In fact, DC recognized same-sex marriage in 2010, before the Supreme Court ruled that it was a right in 2015.

The post it quotes, by @RepMaxwellFrost

Congress can't even pass the bills we're elected to pass, but now Congressional Republicans want to take over D.C.'s budget, taxes, and local laws? Let D.C. be D.C.

Statehood provides the institutional stability necessary to implement policies that improve health, education, housing, public safety, environmental sustainability, economic opportunity, and civic participation. It allows the District to govern with the same permanence, fiscal certainty, and democratic legitimacy afforded to every other state in the Union.

For the DC Statehood Green Party, statehood is therefore not the destination; it is the beginning. It is the constitutional platform that enables the Human Life Standard to fulfill its mission: creating a government whose success is measured by one enduring principle:

The continual improvement of the Quality of Life of every resident of Washington, D.C.

The Human Life Standard (HLS) recognizes that government cannot consistently improve the quality of life for its residents if its own authority is uncertain. A government whose budgets, laws, and institutions remain vulnerable to outside interference cannot reliably plan for future generations or fully meet the needs of its people.

Statehood provides the institutional stability necessary to implement policies that improve health, education, housing, public safety, environmental sustainability, economic opportunity, and civic participation. It allows the District to govern with the same permanence, fiscal certainty, and democratic legitimacy afforded to every other state in the Union.

For the DC Statehood Green Party, statehood is therefore not the destination; it is the beginning. It is the constitutional platform that enables the Human Life Standard to fulfill its mission: creating a government whose success is measured by one enduring principle:

The District of Columbia operates under a governance structure unlike that of any U.S. state. While District residents elect a Mayor and Council, local laws, budget authority, and many aspects of self-governance remain subject to congressional review and intervention. This unique arrangement limits the District's ability to implement long-term policy with the consistency, certainty, and democratic accountability enjoyed by the fifty states.

For more than five decades, the DC Statehood Green Party has recognized statehood as the essential structural reform needed to achieve full democracy for the people of Washington, D.C. Statehood is not simply a political objective it is the constitutional foundation upon which a modern, responsive, and accountable government can be built.

The Human Life Standard (HLS) recognizes that government cannot consistently improve the quality of life for its residents if its own authority is uncertain. A government whose budgets, laws, and institutions remain vulnerable to outside interference cannot reliably plan for future generations or fully meet the needs of its people.

For more than five decades, the DC Statehood Green Party has recognized statehood as the essential structural reform needed to achieve full democracy for the people of Washington, D.C. Statehood is not simply a political objective it is the constitutional foundation upon which a modern, responsive, and accountable government can be built.

The Human Life Standard (HLS) recognizes that government cannot consistently improve the quality of life for its residents if its own authority is uncertain. A government whose budgets, laws, and institutions remain vulnerable to outside interference cannot reliably plan for future generations or fully meet the needs of its people.

Statehood provides the institutional stability necessary to implement policies that improve health, education, housing, public safety, environmental sustainability, economic opportunity, and civic participation. It allows the District to govern with the same permanence, fiscal certainty, and democratic legitimacy afforded to every other state in the Union.

Statehood: The Foundation for the Human Life Standard

The District of Columbia operates under a governance structure unlike that of any U.S. state. While District residents elect a Mayor and Council, local laws, budget authority, and many aspects of self-governance remain subject to congressional review and intervention. This unique arrangement limits the District's ability to implement long-term policy with the consistency, certainty, and democratic accountability enjoyed by the fifty states.

For more than five decades, the DC Statehood Green Party has recognized statehood as the essential structural reform needed to achieve full democracy for the people of Washington, D.C. Statehood is not simply a political objective it is the constitutional foundation upon which a modern, responsive, and accountable government can be built.

The District of Columbia faces unprecedented challenges. Donald Trump is looking for any excuse to overturn 50 years of DC home rule. Now, more than ever, experience counts. I know the District’s people, institutions, and, most importantly, our values. You have my promise that I will fight to keep DC’s local democracy every day, until Donald Trump is gone.

DONATE TODAY TO KEEP PHIL FIGHTING FOR US AS DC COUNCIL CHAIR

DC continues to rely on public safety strategies that have failed for decades. Residents fund the largest police budget in District history while the root causes of violence, trauma, untreated mental health needs, housing instability, and economic insecurity, go unaddressed. Black youth, immigrants, and unhoused neighbors are overpoliced and criminalized for poverty, fare evasion, or survival. Students face armed officers in schools when what they need is mental health care, academic support, and stable housing.

At the same time, DC’s lack of statehood makes residents less safe. The District is uniquely vulnerable to federal interference and “policing without accountability,” where unelected and unrepresentative federal actors can operate with limited transparency. Residents have seen chaotic federal enforcement, whether through National Guard or ICE deployments, show up without clear coordination, community communication, or democratic oversight. When armed agents operate in DC without accountability to DC voters, it increases fear, instability, and the risk of harm, rather than improving safety.

Locally, residents also see secretive surveillance, expanded pretrial detention, and policing approaches that deepen militarization while teachers, nurses, mental health workers, and violence interrupters struggle for adequate funding. This imbalance undermines trust, wastes resources, and leaves communities less safe rather than more secure.

WHEREAS, many residents and community organizations have expressed opposition to expanding ICE infrastructure in the District and have called for greater transparency and public engagement regarding federal development at the St. Elizabeths campus; and

WHEREAS, residents of Washington, DC continue to live under taxation without representation in Congress and have limited democratic authority over major federal development projects imposed within the District; and

WHEREAS, District residents deserve democratic participation in decisions that significantly affect their neighborhoods and public safety;

ENR — Clark Construction $524M Contract (August 20, 2024) Engineering News-Record coverage with ZGF Architects and Olin Studio design details. https://www.enr.com/articles/59153-clark-construction-wins-524m-contract-to-build-cisa-headquarters

"This is an outrage. Washington, DC still lives under taxation without representation, and now the federal government is using land in the heart of Southeast to expand the infrastructure of deportation and surveillance. Southeast DC deserves housing, healthcare, schools, food access, and good jobs, not a fortified federal compound." March 14, 2026 — Press conference at DHS Entrance at St. Elizabeth’s West.

"DC residents deserve better. We are going to fight to stop this project and demand the federal government take its hands off DC." March 14, 2026 — Press conference at DHS Entrance at St. Elizabeth’s West.

Fact 3 — Climate Money Is Paying for Deportation Infrastructure The federal government used $288 million in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding — marketed to the public as climate and green building investment — to fund this project. The breakdown: $115.8 million included in the Clark Construction CISA contract, $80.8 million for the ICE/CBP headquarters, and $67 million for a new parking garage and gatehouse. This was the largest single IRA project investment in GSA history at the time of award.

Fact 4 — Five Presidents, No DC Vote This project was initiated under President George W. Bush in 2004 and continued under Presidents Obama, Trump, Biden, and Trump again. The project spanned five presidential administrations over 20 years — with each continuing rather than canceling the consolidation. At no point did DC residents have a meaningful vote. DC has no Senate representation and its House Delegate cannot vote on legislation. The final decision to proceed with the maximum build-out was signed by a single unelected DHS official on July 13, 2022.

Fact 5 — DHS Overrode Its Own Environmental Experts DHS's own 2020 environmental review found that the "No Action Alternative is the environmentally preferable alternative for natural and cultural resources." That means doing nothing was better for the land, the trees, and the historic character of the community. DHS chose the maximum build-out anyway — disturbing 8 acres of the campus plateau and demolishing multiple historic buildings. The decision was made without a DC vote and without community consent.

DC’s budget is under real strain, not because residents are asking for too much, but because revenue is not keeping pace with the economy or with the responsibilities DC is required to carry. The District relies primarily on local property, income, and sales taxes, along with federal funds that make up about a quarter of total revenue. Unlike states, DC must fund both city and state level services, including Medicaid, unemployment insurance, and human services, while lacking full control over its own budget.

Congress can block DC laws, restrict how local funds are spent, and impose federal budget riders that deny the District revenue. One clear example is cannabis. DC voters legalized possession, but Congress still blocks the District from regulating and taxing recreational sales, denying millions in revenue that could be reinvested in communities harmed by the War on Drugs.

At the same time, DC’s tax code and development strategy continue to favor the wealthy. Capital gains, inherited wealth, and high value property remain lightly taxed, while working families carry a disproportionate share of the load. The District has increasingly relied on mechanisms like Opportunity Zones, Tax Increment Financing (TIFs), and long term bonding to spur development without clear accountability for results. Too often, these tools shift risk onto future taxpayers while delivering limited public benefit. Without change, revenue will continue to lag behind economic growth, putting…

DC residents deserve to feel safe in their homes, schools, neighborhoods, and places of worship. Every resident, whether Jewish, Muslim, gay, Black, Asian, immigrant, disabled, housed or unhoused, deserves to know the District will take threats and harm seriously and respond with competence and care.

Safety also means democracy. DC residents deserve full self-government, because living under federal occupation without representation is not safety, it’s vulnerability. A safe DC is a DC where public safety is accountable to the people who live here, with clear oversight, transparent rules, and agencies that answer to residents.

People deserve crisis responses that actually help, including mental health professionals, trained de-escalators, youth workers, and violence interrupters. Young people deserve counselors, teachers, and nurses not a school-to-prison pipeline. Families deserve a District that invests in well-being, creates real opportunity, and ensures every student can attend UDC tuition-free so they can build a stable future.

…power is being used to intimidate and terrorize communities. ICE operates in neighborhoods, workplaces, and near schools. National Guard deployments and emboldened policing have created an environment where children grow up surrounded by force, immigrant families live in fear of being taken, and entire communities are treated as expendable. As the child of African immigrants, Oye understands how dangerous it feels to live under a system where your presence is constantly questioned and your rights are never guaranteed. Without statehood, DC residents are uniquely exposed to these abuses.

The District deserves full democratic rights, equal representation, and the power to govern ourselves without congressional interference. That means control over our budget, laws, and public land; respect for voter-approved initiatives; and an end to federal domination of daily life in the District.

DC residents deserve a local government that refuses to carry out unjust federal agendas, actively defends immigrant communities, and protects civil liberties. Statehood is not symbolic. It is the only way to ensure safety, stability, and dignity for the people of the District. Until statehood is achieved, DC deserves leaders like Oye who will confront federal overreach directly and use every available tool to defend home rule.

The District is denied basic human rights. DC residents are taxed without representation, governed without consent, and stripped of democratic power over our own lives. Members of Congress from all around the country—who do not live here, raise families here, or answer to DC voters—have more authority over DC laws and budgets than the people who call the District home. That is not democracy.

This lack of self-government creates constant instability. Congress routinely overrides DC laws, blocks local budget decisions, and interferes with how the District raises and spends its own revenue. These actions put jobs, health care, housing, and public services at risk and leave residents powerless to protect themselves.

At the same time, federal power is being used to intimidate and terrorize communities. ICE operates in neighborhoods, workplaces, and near schools. National Guard deployments and emboldened policing have created an environment where children grow up surrounded by force, immigrant families live in fear of being taken, and entire communities are treated as expendable. As the child of African immigrants, Oye understands how dangerous it feels to live under a system where your presence is constantly questioned and your rights are never guaranteed. Without statehood, DC residents are uniquely…

Oye will prioritize Black maternal and infant health, expand public clinics that provide care at no cost, and take on pharmacy benefit managers by ending spread pricing and lowering prescription drug costs. He will push for a comprehensive public health response to overdoses and homelessness and protect reproductive and gender affirming care. He supports a universal health care vision that moves DC toward a single payer Medicare for All system.

The District is denied basic human rights. DC residents are taxed without representation, governed without consent, and stripped of democratic power over our own lives. Members of Congress from all around the country—who do not live here, raise families here, or answer to DC voters—have more authority over DC laws and budgets than the people who call the District home. That is not democracy.

This lack of self-government creates constant instability. Congress routinely overrides DC laws, blocks local budget decisions, and interferes with how the District raises and spends its own revenue. These actions put jobs, health care, housing, and public services at risk and leave residents powerless to protect themselves.

Results-Driven Leadership: Created new community parks, helped bring new grocery stores online, and stood as a consistent advocate for equity, affordability, and protecting DC’s autonomy from congressional interference.

Protect Home Rule: Defend DC’s right to self-govern by opposing federal interference and ensuring local decisions are made by DC residents, for DC residents.

Grow DC’s economy: Make DC more affordable by expanding affordable housing, strengthening rental assistance, lowering everyday costs like childcare and utilities, and addressing long-standing racial and economic inequities.

The post it quotes, by @maustermuhle

Interesting: @DoorDash is supporting the GOP bill in Congress to limit D.C.'s ability to increase or decrease taxes and fees, largely in response to the D.C. Council's recent vote in impose a new 20-cent delivery fee to help fund food-access programs. https://www.notus.org/metro/ubereats-doordash-delivery-fee-dc

As a 20+ year resident, Rob Simmons has always believed in the power of community and the importance of representation. He is committed to advocating for the rights of D.C. residents and bringing common-sense, conservative solutions to our local challenges.

Fight to secure full voting rights for the people of Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Push for fiscally responsible policies, smaller government, and personal freedoms in D.C.’s local governance.

I, Rob Simmons, am running for the position of D.C. Senator to ensure that Washington, D.C. has a voice in the U.S. Senate. We deserve full representation and the ability to govern ourselves without overreach from Washington, D.C.

Small business ownerFounder, Global Alliance Inc. (non-profit)

‘No representation and an occupation” DC Shadow Senator on Trump trying to tighten grip on DC

D.C. Senator Paul Strauss speaks on statehood

The political elite chose it as a way to point out the disconnect between one of the injustices that caused the American Revolution and DC's current lack of effective representation in Congress.

And yet, that same political elite has used the lack of statehood as an excuse for all sorts of mismanagement.

The Federal Marshalls removed 400 prisoners from the DC Jail because conditions were inhumane. If DC got statehood, the practices wouldn't get the the additional inspections. Congressional oversight is why DC had the emergency funds to continue to pay people during the COVID-10 lockdowns. DC's Housing Authority has been handled millions and has delivered very little.

The post it quotes, by @nicksortor

🚨 INSANE: Despite a BILLION GALLONS of raw sewage pouring into the Potomac River running through DC, DC’s Director of Environment is saying it’s NO BIG DEAL, and that he’ll still be eating fish caught in the Poo River Democrats are proving their “environmentalism” is a SCAM, once again. This is the largest raw sewage spill in US HISTORY, and Democrats are actively pretending like it’s not happening. This guy’s OWN DEPARTMENT has told people to AVOID the Potomac River, and even to keep their dogs away from it. But he’s counter messaging them, because he wants to cover up his own incompetence. Another reason DC can NEVER become a state.

The Federal Marshalls removed 400 prisoners from the DC Jail because conditions were inhumane. If DC got statehood, the practices wouldn't get the the additional inspections. Congressional oversight is why DC had the emergency funds to continue to pay people during the COVID-10 lockdowns. DC's Housing Authority has been handled millions and has delivered very little.

For now, appeals to Congressional oversight and Federal agencies seems like the only real recourse for badly neglected voters. DC statehood would take away one of the few appeals left to ordinary people abandoned by poor leadership.

DC is not ready to be a state until there is some basic accountability for bad management.

And yet, that same political elite has used the lack of statehood as an excuse for all sorts of mismanagement.

The Federal Marshalls removed 400 prisoners from the DC Jail because conditions were inhumane. If DC got statehood, the practices wouldn't get the the additional inspections. Congressional oversight is why DC had the emergency funds to continue to pay people during the COVID-10 lockdowns. DC's Housing Authority has been handled millions and has delivered very little.

For now, appeals to Congressional oversight and Federal agencies seems like the only real recourse for badly neglected voters. DC statehood would take away one of the few appeals left to ordinary people abandoned by poor leadership.

The post it quotes, by @ankitjaindc

DC says no to kings and yes to Statehood

For now, appeals to Congressional oversight and Federal agencies seems like the only real recourse for badly neglected voters. DC statehood would take away one of the few appeals left to ordinary people abandoned by poor leadership.

DC is not ready to be a state until there is some basic accountability for bad management.

The District of Columbia is the only national capital, among democratic nations of the world, whose citizens have no voting representation in the national legislature.

D.C. residents pay more federal income taxes per capita than the residents of all fifty states, and more total taxes than 23 states.

More D.C. residents, per capita, have fought in U.S. wars than the residents of any state; even though we have no vote in the U.S. Congress, which declares those wars.

The post it quotes, by @ChrisVanHollen

The people of D.C. deserve the same political rights as everyone else in this country. Today I reintroduced the D.C. Admission Act with @EleanorNorton to finally grant #DCStatehood and end taxation without representation in our nation's capital.

More D.C. residents, per capita, have fought in U.S. wars than the residents of any state; even though we have no vote in the U.S. Congress, which declares those wars.

D.C.’s vibrant urban economy has a larger gross domestic product than 16 states, and the population of the District is larger than two states (Vermont and Wyoming).

It took a Constitutional Amendment for DC residents to vote in Presidential Elections. The 23rd Amendment, ratified March 29, 1961, allowed DC residents to vote in Presidential elections for the first time, on November 3, 1964.

D.C. residents pay more federal income taxes per capita than the residents of all fifty states, and more total taxes than 23 states.

More D.C. residents, per capita, have fought in U.S. wars than the residents of any state; even though we have no vote in the U.S. Congress, which declares those wars.

D.C.’s vibrant urban economy has a larger gross domestic product than 16 states, and the population of the District is larger than two states (Vermont and Wyoming).

…yet have not voting representation in the U.S. Congress. This injustice, TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION, is wrong, and we will not stop pursuing the admission of Washington DC as the 51st state until this injustice stops. If you live in one of the 50 states, one of the most effective ways that you can help us, is by reaching out to your member of Congress and asking them to support S. 51 (Washington D.C. Admission Act). Passage of this bill in the U.S. Senate will ensure that all residents of your Nation’s Capital have the same rights that you now have, while preserving our national capital.

The District of Columbia is the only national capital, among democratic nations of the world, whose citizens have no voting representation in the national legislature.

D.C. residents pay more federal income taxes per capita than the residents of all fifty states, and more total taxes than 23 states.

It took a Constitutional Amendment for DC residents to vote in Presidential Elections. The 23rd Amendment, ratified March 29, 1961, allowed DC residents to vote in Presidential elections for the first time, on November 3, 1964.

D.C. is the only jurisdiction in the United States that needs Congressional approval to spend its own local tax dollars, and all of its local laws are subject to Congressional approval.