The framers wanted a capital that no single state could control, after Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia in 1783 when unpaid soldiers protested and the state did not protect it. Maryland and Virginia ceded land in 1790, and the government moved to Washington in 1800. Since then, the question of how residents of the capital should be governed and represented has never been fully settled.
This guide explains how D.C. is governed today and the arguments for and against statehood.
D.C. voters approved statehood in a 2016 referendum with 86 percent support. The House passed bills in 2020 and 2021 to admit most of the District as the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, while leaving a small federal district around the Capitol, White House, and National Mall. The Senate did not take them up. Supporters argue that Congress can admit a state by simple law, as it has for 37 states, and that D.C. has more residents than Wyoming or Vermont.
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 created an elected mayor and a 13-member council. But Congress kept the power to review and overturn D.C. laws, approve its budget, and legislate directly for the city, and it has used riders to block local policies on topics such as abortion funding, marijuana sales, and gun laws. In 2023 Congress overturned a D.C. criminal code revision, the first such disapproval in decades. The President appoints D.C. judges and the U.S. attorney prosecutes most local crimes.
Article I gives Congress power to exercise exclusive legislation over a district, not exceeding ten miles square, that becomes the seat of government. James Madison argued in Federalist No. 43 that the national government needed independence from any state. Virginia's portion was returned to it in 1846, and residents of the remaining District lost the right to vote in Maryland or Virginia once the capital was established. For much of its history the District was run by presidentially appointed commissioners.
In August 2025 the President declared a crime emergency in Washington, invoked a provision of the Home Rule Act allowing the President to direct the D.C. police for up to 30 days in an emergency, and deployed National Guard troops from D.C. and several states. The District's commanding general answers to the President, since D.C. has no governor. Supporters said the actions reduced crime and restored order, while D.C. officials and critics called them an unnecessary federal takeover and said they showed the limits of home rule. The episode renewed both statehood advocacy and calls for greater federal control.
D.C. residents elect a delegate to the House who can serve on committees and speak but not vote on final passage, and they have no senators. The 23rd Amendment, ratified in 1961, gave D.C. electoral votes for President, no more than the least populous state. A constitutional amendment to treat D.C. as a state for congressional representation passed Congress in 1978 but was ratified by only 16 states. D.C. license plates carry the slogan taxation without representation, since residents pay federal income taxes.
Opponents argue that the framers deliberately created a federal district, that statehood would require a constitutional amendment, and that the 23rd Amendment would leave the tiny remaining federal district with three electoral votes. Some propose retrocession, returning residential areas of D.C. to Maryland, which would give residents full representation without a new state. Critics also note that statehood would likely add two Democratic senators, and supporters respond that political consequences should not determine voting rights.
Compare other places without statehood in U.S. territories explained, see how local governments work in how local government works, or learn about voting rights in voting rights law.