A panel of House Democrats advanced legislation Wednesday to make Washington, D.C., the 51st state in the union after hourslong debate over the constitutionality of the plan and the political ramifications of a newly minted blue state.

A panel of House Democrats advanced legislation Wednesday to make Washington, D.C., the 51st state in the union after hourslong debate over the constitutionality of the plan and the political ramifications of a newly minted blue state.