Speaking of dereliction of Congressional duty, there are few subjects in the U. S. Constitution that are more explicit than Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 which characterizes the status of the federal district, known now as the “District of Columbia”. Among the powers of the Congress is
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;
Get that? Congress has exclusive authority over the federal district. It does not have the authority to delegate that responsibility to the executive or anyone else. Doing that would require amending the Constitution. That has not been done.
Why then is there DC self-rule at all and why, in particular, are there calls for statehood for the federal district? The answer is pure racial politics. The population of the district is mostly black. That’s the artifact of the reality that most servants in that part of the country were black (even after slavery) and needed to live near the places where they worked. The Congress, which had botched the governance of DC for nearly 150 years, recognized that the mostly white Congress ruling black people who had no say over that governance was unseemly to say the least.
People no longer need to live in the district the way they did a century ago. An actual limited federal district should be defined, the Congress should exercise exclusive authority over that district, residence within that district should be prohibited (other than by the president, vice president, or other officials in official residences), and the balance of the present district returned to Maryland.
The only way in which statehood for Washington, DC should be considered is in the context of granting statehood to every city larger than Mesa, Arizona.
