Voting Rights for D.C.?

A proposal to grant Washington, D.C., full representation in the House of Representatives has now cleared the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. Currently the District has one delegate who can vote in committee but not on the final passage of a bill. This bill would grant one full representative to the District, and add an at-large representative for Utah, to maintain the partisan balance.

The bill must pass a vote by the full House next week, before moving to the Senate for consideration. Prospects in the Senate are murkier, as the bill could fall prey to parliamentary maneuvers. The conventional wisdom is that President Bush will veto the legislation if it passes both houses of Congress. Whether there is enough support to override a veto remains to be seen.

For more on the issue, see D.C. Vote.