The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has voted for statehood four times in this century, making it is clear that statehood is the preferred political status option for the Island’s voters. Yet the prospect of Congress admitting Puerto Rico as a state in the imminent future does not appear likely. After all, tough political forces in play in Washington, D.C. as the 119th Congress kicks off lead most close observers to believe that very few bills will make their way through Congress at all in the coming session.
Statehood supporters are nonetheless finding reasons for hope and optimism as they take the long view.
Trump’s expansionism
One factor that encourages statehood supporters is President Trump’s aggressive expansionism. Sounding much more like a 19th century imperialist than a 21st century president, Donald Trump has expressed a desire to grow the United States in multiple directions, annexing Greenland and Canada, taking over the Panama Canal, rebuilding luxury hotels on the Gaza strip, and seizing Ukraine’s mineral rights. This mindset, while considered by most observers to be extreme, nonetheless seems compatible with adding new states on a basic level.
“This president, since his swearing-in, has been very vocal about expanding the territorial area of the United States for national security and economic reasons,” José Fuentes-Agostini, told NOTUS. “We are thrilled with his position because we feel that the primary reason to make Puerto Rico a state is precisely for national security reasons and economic development reasons.”
Fuentes-Agostini is chairman of the Puerto Rico Statehood Council, an organization supporting statehood.
Puerto Rico supports statehood
Statehood received 58.61% of the vote in Puerto Rico’s 2024 status plebiscite held on Election Day.
The marks the fourth time in recent history (2012, 2017, 2020, and 2024) that statehood secured majority support in Puerto Rico’s status referenda, underscoring a consistent trend in favor of equality and full democracy through statehood.
Significantly, independence continues to lag behind all other options, garnering only 12% of the vote in November, demonstrating that a full 88% of Puerto Rican voters consider a continued connection with the U.S. to be important.
Congressional Interest in Statehood
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have supported statehood for decades, and many continue to do so. The Puerto Rico Status Act, which created a democratic pathway to statehood, was passed by the House of Representatives in 2022 with 101 cosponsors, both Republicans and Democrats.
The question of statehood for Puerto Rico continues to be an open one. Congress can admit new states with a simple majority.
The Resident Commissioner is not likely to reintroduce the Puerto Rico Status Act as his bill but there are members of Congress who have expressed an openness to statehood. This group includes many of the bill’s cosponsors, who remain in Congress. In addition, concerns about U.S. national security have been on the upswing.
The bottom line
Developing national security concerns and an increasingly expansionist mindset by U.S. leaders are lending credence to the idea that statehood for Puerto Rico continues to be a likely long-term outcome for the territory. The new political reality developing in Washington may include some surprising new pathways to resolution of Puerto Rico’s ultimate political status.
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