The "Equal Representation Act of 2025" seeks to amend the citizenship status on the decennial census, excluding noncitizens from the count used to determine the apportionment of representatives and electoral votes. The bill specifies that individuals who are not citizens of the United States will be excluded from this count. The amendment will become effective for the apportionment of Representatives carried out during the 2030 decennial census and any succeeding censuses. Additionally, the bill includes a severability clause to ensure that if any provision is deemed unconstitutional, the rest of the Act remains unaffected.
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.