[1] In 1898, following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War, Spain ceded the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico and its surrounding archipelago to the United States.

In this context, Puerto Rico is a territory that is controlled by the federal government, but in which the full provisions of the Constitution are not in force.

Statehood would also allow Puerto Rico greater access to federal funding programs that states enjoy, an issue that became increasingly apparent following recent natural disasters that affected the island, most notably Hurricane Maria in 2017, the effects of which caused as much as $90 billion worth of damage, with the response of the federal government being heavily criticised.

[7] In 2017, following the success of the pro-statehood Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) in gaining control of the Legislative Assembly, as well as the governorship, Puerto Rico followed the example of Washington, D.C. by appointing a delegation of shadow congresspeople, with two senators and five representatives.

[8] The purpose of this delegation, set up by the Puerto Rico Equality Commission, is to lobby the United States Congress over the question of statehood.

This can be illustrated by the fact that the pro-independence Puerto Rican Independence Party (Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño, PIP) candidate for governor received 14% of the vote in the 2020 election.

[16] Although statehood has formed part of the party platforms of both major parties in the United States, senior figures in the Republican Party publicly indicated their opposition to the admission of Puerto Rico, with Mitch McConnell, the then Senate Majority Leader, saying in 2019 that moves to admit Puerto Rico, as well as Washington D.C., amounted to "full-bore socialism", with both potential new states likely to return perpetual Democratic members of the Senate, and so the Republican majority would oppose the entry of both.

[18][19] Despite the seemingly fixed position of the Senate leadership, legislators of both parties, following the result of the 2020 vote, indicated a willingness to open the debate of Puerto Rico's status in Congress.