In a party-line vote, the House of Representatives has approved H.R. 1, the bill seeking to make D.C. the nation’s 51st state.

The Hill reports:

Winning a vote in the Senate would likely require ending the filibuster that requires most legislation to clear a 60-vote hurdle. Even then, not all 50 Democrats in the Senate back making D.C. a state.

The White House on Tuesday formally declared its support for the legislation, saying it would provide the residents of the District with “long overdue full representation in Congress.”

Republicans have opposed giving D.C. statehood, in part because it would lead to two more Democratic senators and a Democratic House member given the district population’s political leanings. President Biden won the District’s three electoral votes in last year’s election with 92 percent of the vote.

They have also offered other arguments against statehood, stating the founders didn’t intend for the city to be a state, or that it would be better for Washington, D.C., to become part of an existing state such as Maryland. One Republican lawmaker said D.C. should not be a state because it has no car dealerships. The District actually has a number of dealerships.

The bill will now advance to the Senate where it has an uphill road ahead with an evenly divided Senate and with Dem. Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema have already voiced their opposition to the bill.