U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer Introduces Bill To Expand House to 585 Members
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, Jan. 30, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) introduced H.R. 622, the Restoring Equal and Accountable Legislators in the House (REAL House) Act. The bill would expand the number of members of the U.S. House of Representatives to 585 following the 2030 census.
The House was capped at its current size of 435 members in 1929, when the country’s population was only 122 million people. Since then, the United States has grown to 328 million people, meaning the population of the average congressional district — currently 761,179 people — has nearly tripled. In his statement introducing the bill, Blumenauer argued that this imbalance “makes it more difficult for members to be responsive to the will of the people.” Increasing the number of representatives “will help our government better reflect our districts and constituent needs.”
In 2021, a group of scholars released a report advocating for expanding the House. They argued that adding more U.S. representatives would:
- Foster stronger connections with constituents,
- Expand the talent pool of the House,
- Increase the influence individual voters have in election outcomes and
- Help Congress handle its workload.