Congressman Dusty Johnson’s Weekly Column: A 51st State Is Not the Answer

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A 51st State Is Not the Answer
By Rep. Dusty Johnson

Over the last several years, there’s been a lot of discussion about making our nation’s capital city the 51st state in the union. I think that’s a bad idea, but it’s supported by many for a few reasons.

Some support statehood for Washington, D.C., because they want to expand Democratic control of the United States Senate. I’m opposed to that kind of a political power grab.

Others support statehood for a different, more legitimate reason, saying D.C. residents deserve voting representation in the U.S. House and Senate. We all know the saying, “taxation without representation,” and while capital residents are represented with three electoral college votes, they do not get representation in the Senate. I do think that’s unfair, but I don’t think adding a new state is the answer.

D.C. is 68 square miles – that includes both land mass and water. It’s 95% smaller than our nation’s smallest state, Rhode Island. You could fit 1,130 D.C.’s inside the state of South Dakota. Let’s be honest: DC isn’t a state. It’s a city.

So, is there a compromise to ensure D.C. residents have representation in Congress? Yes.

My bill, the D.C.-Maryland Reunion Act, would merge the suburbs of D.C. with the surrounding state of Maryland – providing congressional representation to those residents without adding a 51st state. The Capitol building and White House “mall” area would remain the District of Columbia and there would no longer be a need for electoral votes in the district since residents would become Maryland voters.

The idea has gotten some pushback from politicians in favor of D.C. statehood. But if we’re being honest, if this idea wasn’t about power and truly focused on providing representation to voters, then those same politicians would support my bill.

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7 thoughts on “Congressman Dusty Johnson’s Weekly Column: A 51st State Is Not the Answer”

  1. I’m pretty sure DC, in that 68 square miles, has 75% of the population of the entire state of SD and is bigger (population wise) than states like Wyoming. Why should the amount of land in square feet be more important than the number of people when determining proper representation ratios in Congress?

    Arguments like this just open us up to people saying we should merge the Dakotas, and they probably make more sense than this mindless virtue signal.

    1. Do you know what the madison compromise is? Do you have any idea that historically speaking representation in any government has had more to do with area of land than number of people. Land mass is important since the land is a natural resource, people are important since they are as well a resource. In 1978 under the Carter administration with a Veto proof Majority in both houses they voted to allow representation for DC because it is an accepted legal fact that DC cannot be made a state without amending the Constitution. If congress could just have made it a state they would have back in 1978. Dusty is at best just pandering to his base introducing a bill that will go nowhere, to protect against something that is already known to be unconstitutional. Dirty Johnson should do us all a favor and not run for re-election. He doesn’t need to muddy the water since South Dakotan’s know he is a RINO who only Panders. A majority of the electorate has realized this with his statements he made about the last election regarding the integrity of the election. If there was ever a 1 issue political suicide it was letting the last election be stolen. Pandering now won’t save Dirty Johnson.

      1. Calling him Dirty Johnson makes you seem less credible, and so does suggesting the presidential election was stolen.

    1. I’m not sure Representative Johnson has a holier-than-thou attitude. I think maybe he’s just perceived that way because he’s cerebral and wonky and uses too many memorized cliches and other sound bites when he speaks.

  4. I don’t know what is more stupid, introducing this legislation or not using his weekly press release to highlight he got on the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee. Especially given the committee’s broad jurisdiction touching on the Army Corps of Engineers management of the Missouri River, all modes of transportation, general aviation including the essential air service, the Economic Development Administration, and other relevant issues to South Dakota.

    Can’t wait to see the next terrible weekly column next week.

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