Updated April 30 Manchin pans D.C. statehood bill in another break with Democrats The West Virginia senator says he opposes unilateral action by Congress to make the nation’s capital a state and that he believes it needs to be done through a constitutional amendment. By KEVIN FREKINGAssociated Press Share Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, arrives to hold a confirmation hearing Thursday for Tommy Beaudreau of Alaska, nominee for deputy secretary of the Interior Department, at the Capitol in Washington. J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press WASHINGTON — A long-shot bid to pass legislation that would make the District of Columbia the nation’s 51st state got a little longer on Friday.