The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved a bill that would make Washington, D.C. the 51st state of the United States in a historic vote of 232 to 180. 

The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill, as Republicans – including President Donald Trump – are opposed to granting statehood to the federal district, which they predict would elect Democrats to Congress.

Currently, legislation passed by the district's local government is subject to congressional review.

"Congress has two choices: it can continue to exercise undemocratic autocratic authority over" Washington, "or Congress can live up to this nation's promise and ideals and pass HR51," said Washington's House delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who does not have floor vote privileges and therefore was unable to cast a vote for DC statehood.

"For more than two centuries, the residents of Washington, D.C. have been denied their full right to fully participate in our democracy" despite paying taxes, serving in the military and operating businesses, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote.

Republicans who oppose the effort say it runs counter to the intent of the framers of the U.S. Constitution who sought to create a unique federal district not influenced by any state.

Washington, dubbed a "Chocolate City" by the funk band Parliament, has been recorded as a majority-Black city since the 1960 Census. Black Americans now make up 46 percent of the district's population, the same percentage of White Americans.

The statehood vote is the first in Congress since 1993. Never has such a Bill – appropriately titled HR-51 – cleared the House or Senate.

The last time the nation expanded was 1959, when Alaska was admitted as the 49th state on January 3 and Hawaii became the 50th state seven months later, following congressional votes and the support of the president.