The House of Representatives will soon consider H.R.5803, a bill to admit Washington, District of Columbia, our nation’s capital, as the 51st state. This legislation would alter the capital and change the country in significant ways. Yet, few people are aware of it. They have had no opportunity to consider its consequences.

There has not been a single congressional hearing on H.R.5803. Introduced on Feb. 7, the Democratic majority of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform reported the bill out on Feb. 11 on a straight party-line vote. Democrats and Republicans alike understand making the reliably blue city the 51st state would send in perpetuity two Democrats to the Senate. After all, 93% of Washington voters supported Hillary Clinton in 2016. Hawaii, the actual state giving Clinton the greatest portion of its support, gave Clinton 62%. In this way, and so many others, Washington is out of sync with the rest of the country.