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Congress·In Committee

New Bill Proposes Using Only U.S. Citizens to Decide How Many Seats States Get in Congress

Make It Count Act

about 1 month ago·View on Congress.gov

Legislative Progress

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House
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Key Points

  • This bill would add a new question to the 2030 Census asking every household to identify the citizenship status of each person living there. Respondents would have to check a box indicating if someone is a U.S. citizen, a legal resident, or an undocumented immigrant.
  • The proposal changes how the government decides how many seats each state gets in the House of Representatives. Currently, seats are based on the total number of people living in a state, but this bill would change the rules to only count U.S. citizens for this purpose.
  • Because the number of House seats also determines how many Electoral College votes a state has, this change would likely shift political power and influence between different states during presidential elections.
  • The bill also limits how often states can redraw their Congressional district maps. It would prohibit states from redrawing these lines more than once every ten years unless a court specifically orders a change to follow the Constitution or the Voting Rights Act.
  • If passed, the government would be required to publicly report the number of citizens and noncitizens living in each state within 120 days of finishing the census count.
Civil RightsImmigration

Impact Analysis

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

State Impacts

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Jan 21, 2026House

Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced in House

Related News

3 articles
Axios·28 days ago

Trump officials push citizenship question in test survey for 2030 census

The Trump administration is moving forward with a field test of a citizenship question as part of early 2030 U.S. Census planning, part of a broader push to reduce the practice of counting undocumented immigrants to determine congressional apportionment and Electoral College votes.

C=
PBS News·28 days ago

Census Bureau plans to use survey with a citizenship question in its test for 2030, alarming experts

The U.S. Census Bureau plans to use a survey form with a citizenship question as part of its practice test for the 2030 census, raising questions about whether the Trump administration might try to exclude undocumented immigrants from the head count used for congressional apportionment.

CL~
Huntsville Today·7 days ago

Democrats Warn Citizenship Question Could Derail 2030 Census Test

Lawmakers say the Trump-era policy could scare away immigrants from participating in the 2026 census test in Huntsville. The census determines how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets, and an undercount could have significant political consequences.

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Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Make It Count Act

Bill NumberHR 7167
Congress119th Congress
ChamberHouse of Representatives
Latest ActionReferred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Sponsor

Analysis generated by AI. While we strive for accuracy, this should not be considered legal or professional advice. Always verify information with official government sources.