Congress considers an unconstitutional District of Columbia Voting Rights Act.

Congress has started debate on Senate Bill 1257, the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act (see CBO report) sponsored by Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut (and co-sponsored by 18 other Senators). The Bill, along with House companion bills H. R. 1905 (which referred to the Senate and which would provide for the treatment of the District of Columbia as a Congressional district for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives, and for other purposes), H. R. 1433, and H. R. 328, would provide the District of Columbia a voting seat and the State of Utah an additional seat in the House of Representatives.

But with respect to the nation's capital of the District of Columbia (you can read James Madison's rationale for a seat of general government to not be "dependen[t] ... on the State comprehending the seat of the government" in The Federalist NO. 43), can Congress constitutionally mandate voting representation?

I say the answer is a SOLID NO. (Read contrary op-ed)

Though the U. S. Constitution grants Congress power over the District in Article I, Section 8, such a grant of authority does not extend to a grant of statehood, which is the limiting criteria for voting representation under the Article's "apportionment" clause of Section 2.

So without authority to do what it is seeking to do, the only constitutionally proper action Congress can take on this issue is to propose amendments to the Constitution.

This is NOT to say that there may not be other remedial actions Congress can take, short of a constitutional amendment, in order to grant D. C. residents a right to "equal representation with taxation", because there are: (A) Congress can grant D. C. residents relief from federal taxation, since their main political concern and government motto is that there is "taxation without representation"; or (B) Acquire by sale or condemnation (provided just compensation is paid -- as the public use is CLEAR, property rights of all District residents wishing to relocate to neighboring states to have the right to elect their representatives.

Beyond those two remedies, Congress can propose a constitutional amendment to either: (1) grant the District's residents statehood and voting rights; or, (2) retro cede (give back portions of the Capital to Maryland, provided there are 12 miles radius left or propose another constitutional amendment to require less area).

The last remedial action in (B) above that I have proposed may sound unpalatable to some, but it sure beats having no representative general government as it exists now for D. C. residents, especially if any constitutional amendment(s) are proposed and the proposal(s) meet with voter rejection.

Any thoughts?