GOP Rep. Banks: Push for D.C. Statehood ‘Clearly Unconstitutional’ — ‘Grand Plan’ to ‘Make It Hard for Republicans to Ever Win Again’

During a Thursday interview with FNC’s “Fox & Friends First,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) pushed back against the bill from the Senate that would make Washington, D.C. a state.

Banks noted that giving Washington, D.C. statehood is “clearly unconstitutional.” He added it is part of a “grand plan” by Democrats to “make it hard for Republicans to ever win again.”

“Well, Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution says this is clearly unconstitutional. The Constitution says that we will set aside a district that will be the seat of our government. The Democrats know this, but this is all a part of their grand play. This is just like HR 1, which was introduced in the House already, and then Senator Carper introduced this D.C. statehood bill in the Senate yesterday. They know it’s unconstitutional, but it’s part of their grand plan. They want to pass HR 1 to change the election rules to make it hard for Republicans to ever win again by federalizing elections and moving toward all mail-in ballots nationwide; they want to give the United States Senate two more Democrat senators, and by the time the Supreme Court rules that this is unconstitutional, that’s when they will pack the court. This is all part of their plan. We can’t allow it to happen. But, in this dangerous environment where the radical left has taken over the Democrat Party today, we should expect more hair-brained ideas like this.”

Banks said his “hope” is the bill never makes it out of the Senate.

“[I]f Democrats in the Senate succeed in changing the rules in the Senate and doing away with the Byrd rule and filibuster rules, we should pray that D.C. statehood is something that never makes it across the finish line,” he added.

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent