In a move that many on the right think would erase dozens of Democratic seats in the House of Representatives and thus push the House further into the GOP’s hands, Congress and President Trump are trying to change the United States Census so that it only counts American citizens, not illegal aliens, who primarily live in Democrat-controlled districts.
For reference, President Trump has now repeatedly indicated that he would like to change the Census so that only Americans are counted by it. In addition to the political benefits that would accrue to the GOP by doing so, he sees it as unfair that non-citizens are represented in the benefits doled out as a result of census totals that include illegals.
Many in the GOP agree with him on that, and so there was a great deal of support when, in June of 2025, the GOP-controlled Senate re-introduced a bill called the Equal Representation Act. It would, if passed, add a question regarding citizenship status and leave non-citizens out of the apportionment totals developed based on the results of the Census.
In fact, even Senators not know for being firebrands chimed in to support the bill and change around the Census so that it benefits Americans first. Amongst those who have done so is Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who noted that it is absurd that illegals and other non-citizens are represented in Congressional districts, as it is the American Congress and they are not Americans.
Making that point, Sen. Hagerty argued, “It is unconscionable that illegal immigrants and noncitizens are counted toward congressional district apportionment and our electoral map for the presidency, which also heavily skews the seat count in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Continuing, the senator argued that Democrats are taking advantage of the current state of things by letting in illegal aliens who make up for outflows of Americans so that the left can hold onto its House apportionments. He said, “While people continue to flee Democrat-run cities, desperate Democrats have back-filled the mass exodus with illegal immigrants so that they do not lose their seats in Congress or their electoral votes, hence artificially boosting their political power and in turn diluting the power of other Americans’ votes.”
So, defending the bill’s virtues by connecting it to that ridiculous and dire current state of things, the senator said, “I’m pleased to lead my colleagues in reintroducing this legislation that would require a citizenship question on the census and will ensure that only citizens are counted in congressional redistricting.”
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Members of the House chimed in as well. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), for example, noted that Americans would be horrified to learn the current state of things. He said, “Most Americans would be surprised to learn that states with more illegal immigrants are awarded greater representation in Congress as a result. Addressing this perverse feature of reapportionment needs to be part of any discussion about redistricting reform going forward.”
Further, Rep. Chuck Edwards noted that reapportionment is not unconstitutional, saying, “the U.S. Constitution mandates that a census be carried out every ten years, where everyone who is present in the United States, regardless of their citizenship and immigration status, is counted. But the Constitution does not specify whether noncitizens or illegal aliens must be counted for the purpose of apportioning House seats.”
Watch MTG defend the census move here: