Manchin Says Any Overhaul of Voting Rights Must Have GOP Support

[Politicub]

77. A simple congressional majority.

The filibuster is a construct that takes a simple majority to eliminate, so it isn't a constitutional barrier to statehood. Here's the pertinent law from the constitution:

Article 4, Section 3, Clause 1:

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

That's it. That's the law. It would take a congressional Act, passed by both houses of congress (which, again, can be accomplished by a simple majority), to start the process.

The Act would define the process by which the state is admitted. Maybe the Act would require a plebiscite about statehood or the state to have its constitution ready to go. It's really up to the people who write and pass the Act. Here is the text from the Act introduced in the house last year: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/4901/text

For Puerto Rico, the path to statehood would be clear sailing.

The difference between D.C. and Puerto Rico is that D.C. is a federal district and not a territory. D.C. is not in the jurisdiction of any other state (the federal government is not a state). This site does a fantastic job of summarizing the constitutional law that enables a D.C. statehood Act:

http://www.dcstatehoodyeswecan.org/j/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=202&Itemid=160