Puerto Rico statehood remains unresolved: island voters chose statehood for the fourth time in November 2024, but Congress has not passed legislation to admit Puerto Rico as the 51st state, and no binding vote appears imminent. The island’s 3.2 million U.S. citizens continue to live under territorial status, without voting representation in Congress and without the right to vote for president.
What Puerto Rico Voted For in 2024
On November 5, 2024, Puerto Ricans voted on political status for the seventh time since 1967. Statehood received 58.61 percent of the vote. Sovereignty in free association drew 29.57 percent, and outright independence received 11.82 percent.1Puerto Rico Report. Understanding the 2024 Puerto Rico Plebiscite Results
It was the fourth consecutive referendum to favor statehood. A 2020 vote also chose statehood. A 2017 plebiscite produced 97 percent for statehood, though opposition parties boycotted and turnout fell to 23 percent. In 2012, 61 percent of those who answered the status question picked statehood, but roughly 500,000 voters left the question blank.2Congressional Research Service (Every CRS Report). Political Status of Puerto Rico: Brief Background and Recent Developments for Congress Each result came with its own disputes over ballot design and turnout, which has given skeptics in Congress a reason to doubt the mandate. The 2024 ballot, with three clean options and a nearly 29-point margin, is the strongest numerical case supporters have put forward.
What Congress Is Doing
Congress has not advanced statehood. The closest it has come was in December 2022, when the House passed the Puerto Rico Status Act (H.R. 8393) with bipartisan support and a formal endorsement from the Biden administration. The bill would have authorized a binding plebiscite on statehood, independence, or sovereignty in free association. It died in the Senate without a vote.3Senator Martin Heinrich. Puerto Rico Status Act A companion bill reintroduced in the 118th Congress also went nowhere.
Two competing approaches are now on the table in the 119th Congress. On June 10, 2026, Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera introduced H.R. 9246, the Puerto Rico Democratic Self Determination Act. It would schedule a federally sanctioned plebiscite for March 14, 2027, with four options: statehood, independence, sovereignty in free association, and the current commonwealth arrangement. A runoff between the top two would follow in May 2027 if no option won a majority.4Congress.gov. H.R. 9246 – Puerto Rico Democratic Self Determination Act The bill had eight cosponsors, all Democrats. GovTrack estimated a 2 percent chance of enactment.5GovTrack. H.R. 9246: Puerto Rico Democratic Self Determination Act
Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez opposed the bill the next day, arguing in a joint statement that it would “enshrine Puerto Rico’s colonial condition.” They support a status convention instead, in which Puerto Ricans would elect delegates to design a solution for a later local referendum. More than 80 progressive organizations have endorsed that approach.6Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Legislation – Puerto Rico
Republican leadership has shown little interest in any status bill. Statehood was absent from the Republican Party’s 2024 platform, and the House Natural Resources Committee has signaled that its Puerto Rico focus is fiscal oversight, not political status.7Council on Foreign Relations. Puerto Rico: A U.S. Territory in Crisis
The Governor’s Push
Governor Jenniffer González-Colón, who took office in January 2025 after serving as Puerto Rico’s non-voting Resident Commissioner, has made statehood the official policy of her administration. Executive Order OE-2025-007 mandates statehood advocacy across the government.8Pasquines. Puerto Rico Government Announces Second Equality and Statehood Summit in Washington, D.C. Her administration held the first Puerto Rico Equality and Statehood Summit in Washington on March 2, 2025, drawing more than 200 volunteers and leaders for meetings with members of Congress and federal officials. A second summit followed from March 3 to 5, 2026, with over 140 meetings on Capitol Hill.9Puerto Rico Statehood Action. Puerto Rico Statehood Action
González-Colón has said she wants a straightforward yes-or-no statehood vote in Congress, modeled on the process used to admit Hawaii and Alaska in the 1950s.10Puerto Rico Report. Puerto Rico Governors Call for Statehood That puts her at odds with Hernández Rivera, a member of the Popular Democratic Party who has historically supported keeping Puerto Rico’s territorial status. The two have said they will cooperate on roughly 90 percent of Puerto Rico’s federal agenda that does not involve political status.11Roll Call. Meet the Newest Nonvoting Members of the House
What Would Change With Statehood
The most immediate change would be political. Puerto Rico would gain two U.S. senators and an estimated four House seats. Because the House is capped at 435 members, admission would require other states to lose seats in the next reapportionment.12University of Virginia Center for Politics. Statehood for Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico: Background and Political Implications Residents would also be able to vote for president. Statehood proponents frame this as a civil rights question: Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, serve in the military, pay payroll taxes, and are subject to most federal laws, yet have no voting voice in the government that writes those laws. George Laws Garcia, executive director of the Puerto Rico Statehood Council, has said the island has endured “more than 100 years of structural and racial discrimination” under territorial status.13The Hill. Self-Determination for Puerto Rico
Federal benefits would change too. Puerto Rico currently receives far less Medicaid funding than a state of comparable size and poverty levels, and the island is excluded from the Supplemental Security Income program entirely. Statehood would end those caps and would also bring Puerto Ricans into the federal income tax system, which would let many low-income residents claim the Earned Income Tax Credit for the first time.14Council on Foreign Relations. Puerto Rico’s Statehood Debate
The tax shift cuts both ways. Puerto Rico residents generally do not pay federal income tax on locally earned income, and the island has used its tax structure to attract corporate investment. Statehood would eliminate those advantages, producing what analysts have called a “significant shock.” Republican concerns that a new state would lean Democratic are complicated by Puerto Rico’s conservative social values and its history of electing leaders aligned with the Republican Party.15National Center for Biotechnology Information (PMC). Puerto Rico Statehood and Political Representation
Independence and Free Association
Independence has never drawn more than 12 percent in any Puerto Rico status vote, and the island’s independence party has never won the governorship or the resident commissioner seat.16Puerto Rico Report. Do the People of Puerto Rico Want Independence? Sovereignty in free association, under which Puerto Rico would become a sovereign nation with a negotiated treaty relationship with the United States, drew about 30 percent in 2024.
The practical problem with both options is U.S. citizenship. Constitutional scholars and federal officials have said citizenship cannot be guaranteed to residents of a sovereign Puerto Rico. The existing compacts of free association with Pacific Island nations do not confer U.S. citizenship on citizens of those countries, and there is no precedent for an arrangement that would preserve it. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman and others have said independence would also mean losing federal benefits, protections, and resources.16Puerto Rico Report. Do the People of Puerto Rico Want Independence?
Why This Is Legally Stuck
Puerto Rico’s status rests on a legal framework laid down more than a century ago. After the United States acquired the island in the Spanish-American War, the Supreme Court’s Insular Cases, beginning with Downes v. Bidwell in 1901, established that Puerto Rico is an “unincorporated territory” whose residents receive only “fundamental” constitutional protections rather than the full range afforded to people living in states.17U.S. House of Representatives History, Art and Archives. Puerto Rico: Historical Essay
Congress holds broad authority over the island under the Constitution’s Territorial Clause, which empowers it to “make all needful Rules and Regulations” for U.S. territories. The 1952 Commonwealth gave Puerto Rico its own constitution and local self-governance, but the Supreme Court confirmed in Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle (2016) that the “ultimate source” of the island’s governing authority is still Congress.2Congressional Research Service (Every CRS Report). Political Status of Puerto Rico: Brief Background and Recent Developments for Congress
Pressure on that framework is building, but has not broken it. In United States v. Vaello Madero (2022), Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a concurrence calling the Insular Cases “shameful,” based on “ugly racial stereotypes,” with “no foundation in the Constitution.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor agreed the cases were “premised on beliefs both odious and wrong.”18SCOTUSblog. Conservative Justices Question the Foundation of U.S. Colonial Rule In November 2025, Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas dissented when the Court declined to hear Veneno v. United States, arguing that the Territorial Clause does not “endow the federal government with plenary power even within the Territories themselves.”19Supreme Court of the United States. Veneno v. United States, No. 24-5191 In February 2026, the Puerto Rico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report calling the Insular Cases “explicitly racist and discriminatory” and urging all three branches of the federal government to act.20U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Puerto Rico Advisory Committee Report on the Insular Cases The Supreme Court has not overruled the cases.
The Fiscal Shadow
Puerto Rico’s debt problem shapes every statehood conversation in Washington. The Financial Oversight and Management Board, created under the PROMESA Act in 2016, still runs the island’s fiscal affairs. As of mid-2026 the board employs more than 80 people and hundreds of consultants, with an annual budget over $30 million.21Centro de Periodismo Investigativo. Fiscal Control Board Puerto Rico Exit
About 80 percent of Puerto Rico’s outstanding debt has been restructured, cutting total liabilities from over $70 billion to roughly $37 billion.22Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. Debt Restructuring Under PROMESA, the oversight board cannot dissolve until Puerto Rico produces four consecutive balanced budgets and regains adequate access to credit markets. The government enacted its first certified balanced budget in June 2025, starting the clock on the four-year requirement.23Congress.gov. FOMB Testimony Before House Natural Resources Subcommittee The island’s debt remains rated below investment grade, and the board has identified 50 structural reforms it says must be completed before it exits. The Puerto Rico government disputes that reading, a disagreement that could itself end up in court.21Centro de Periodismo Investigativo. Fiscal Control Board Puerto Rico Exit Critics in Congress point to the island’s debt load, which still exceeds that of any U.S. state, as evidence that Puerto Rico is not ready for admission.14Council on Foreign Relations. Puerto Rico’s Statehood Debate
Bottom Line
Puerto Rican voters keep choosing statehood. The governor is spending political capital on it. Supreme Court justices from both wings of the Court have called the legal foundation of territorial rule illegitimate, and a federal civil rights advisory committee has formally urged action. Only Congress can admit a new state, and neither chamber is close to a binding vote. The statehood bills now pending in the 119th Congress face long odds in a divided legislature where Republican leadership controls the relevant committees and has not treated the issue as urgent. The 3.2 million U.S. citizens who live on the island remain in the same constitutional gray zone they have occupied since 1901.