Govwatch

Introduced

In Committee

3

Passed One Chamber

4

Passed Both

5

Signed into Law

Sponsor

Chuck Edwards

Republican · NC · Representative

Votes with party: 95.7% (598 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/E000246

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (66)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 536.

2026-04-21

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

House Committee on Oversight and Government ReformReported By · 2026-04-21

Previously

Oversight and Government Reform CommitteeReported By · 2026-04-21
Oversight and Government Reform CommitteeMarkup By · 2025-12-02
House Committee on Oversight and Government ReformMarkup By · 2025-12-02
Oversight and Government Reform CommitteeReferred To · 2025-01-03
House Committee on Oversight and Government ReformReferred To · 2025-01-03

Plain-English Summary

Equal Representation Act This bill requires that the statement sent by the President to Congress after the decennial census indicating the number of persons in each state exclude noncitizens. (This statement is the basis for reapportionment of U.S. Representatives.) The bill also requires any questionnaire used in the decennial census to include a checkbox or other similar option for respondents to indicate whether the respondent and each household member is (1) a U.S. citizen, (2) a U.S. national but not a citizen, (3) a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) lawfully residing in the United States, or (4) a non-U.S. national unlawfully residing in the United States. The Department of Commerce must make public the number of persons in each state, disaggregated by each of these four categories.

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

Subjects

Government Operations and Politics

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 151 Reported in House (RH)] <DOC> Union Calendar No. 536 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 151 [Report No. 119-619] To require a citizenship question on the decennial census, to require reporting on certain census statistics, and to modify apportionment of Representatives to be based on United States citizens instead of all persons. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 3, 2025 Mr. Edwards (for himself, Mr. Davidson, Mr. Bean of Florida, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Collins, Mrs. Cammack, Ms. Hageman, Mr. Fleischmann, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. Bost, Mr. Palmer, Mrs. Houchin, Mr. Guest, Mr. Miller of Ohio, Mr. Fitzgerald, and Mr. Moore of Alabama) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform April 21, 2026 Additional sponsors: Mr. Rose, Mr. Smith of Nebraska, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. Knott, Mr. Downing, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Crenshaw, Mrs. Fedorchak, Mr. Issa, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mrs. Harshbarger, Mr. Alford, Mr. Allen, Mr. Brecheen, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Estes, Mr. Stutzman, Mr. Messmer, Mr. Fry, Mr. Cline, Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida, Mr. Norman, Mr. Ezell, Mr. Harris of North Carolina, Mr. Fallon, Mr. Dunn of Florida, Mr. Babin, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Cole, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Baumgartner, Mrs. Biggs of South Carolina, Mr. Gill of Texas, Mr. Mills, Ms. Lee of Florida, Mr. Begich, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Langworthy, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Finstad, Mr. Mann, Mr. Wied, Mr. Self, Ms. Mace, and Mr. Donalds April 21, 2026 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 3, 2025] _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To require a citizenship question on the decennial census, to require reporting on certain census statistics, and to modify apportionment of Representatives to be based on United States citizens instead of all persons. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Equal Representation Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. CITIZENSHIP STATUS ON DECENNIAL CENSUS. Section 141 of title 13, United States Code, is amended-- (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following: ``(g)(1) In conducting the 2030 decennial census and each decennial census thereafter, the Secretary shall include in any questionnaire distributed or otherwise used for the purpose of determining the total population by States a checkbox or other similar option for the respondent to indicate, for the respondent and for each of the members of the household of the respondent, whether that individual is a citizen of the United States. ``(2) Not later than 120 days after completion of a decennial census of the population under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make publicly available the number of individuals per State, disaggregated by citizens of the United States and noncitizens, as tabulated in accordance with this section.''. SEC. 3. EXCLUSION OF NONCITIZENS FROM NUMBER OF PERSONS USED TO DETERMINE APPORTIONMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES AND NUMBER OF ELECTORAL VOTES. (a) Exclusion.--Section 22(a) of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for apportionment of Representatives in Congress'', approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(a)), is amended by inserting…

Show the remaining 186 words

after ``not taxed'' the following: ``and individuals who are not citizens of the United States''. (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the apportionment of Representatives carried out pursuant to the decennial census conducted during 2030 and any succeeding decennial census. SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. If any provision of this Act or amendment made by this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of the provisions of this Act and amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provision or amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected. Union Calendar No. 536 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 151 [Report No. 119-619] _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To require a citizenship question on the decennial census, to require reporting on certain census statistics, and to modify apportionment of Representatives to be based on United States citizens instead of all persons. _______________________________________________________________________ April 21, 2026 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

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