I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 622 

To increase the number of Members of the House of Representatives, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2023 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself and Mr. CASTEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committees on House Administration, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 

A BILL 

To increase the number of Members of the House of 

Representatives, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Equal and 

5 Accountable Legislators in the House Act’’ or the ‘‘REAL 

6 House Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 22 of the Act entitled ‘‘An 

3 Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial 

4 census and to provide for apportionment of Representa5 tives in Congress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the then ex8 isting number of Representatives’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘the applicable number of Representatives deter10 mined under subsection (d)’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub12 section: 

13 ‘‘(d) DETERMINATION OF APPLICABLE NUMBER OF

14 REPRESENTATIVES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) INITIAL NUMBER FOR 2030 CENSUS.—In 

16 the case of the regular decennial census conducted 

17 for 2030, the applicable number of Representatives 

18 determined under this subsection is 585. 

19 ‘‘(2) NUMBER FOR SUBSEQUENT CENSUSES.— 

20 In the case of the regular decennial census con21 ducted for 2040 and each subsequent regular decen22 nial census, the applicable number of Representa23 tives determined under this subsection is the number 

24 equal to the sum of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the applicable number of Representa2 tives determined under this subsection for the 

3 previous regular decennial census; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the hold harmless number described 

5 in paragraph (3), 

6 rounded to the nearest odd number. 

7 ‘‘(3) HOLD HARMLESS NUMBER.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara9 graph (B), the term ‘hold harmless number’ 

10 means, with respect to a regular decennial cen11 sus, the number of additional Representatives 

12 which would be required to ensure that, after 

13 the apportionment of the applicable number of 

14 Representatives determined under this sub15 section for that regular decennial census, the 

16 number of Representatives received by each 

17 State would not be fewer than the number of 

18 Representatives to which that State was enti19 tled under the statement required by subsection 

20 (a) for the previous decennial census. 

21 ‘‘(B) LIMIT.—The hold harmless number 

22 with respect to a regular decennial census may 

23 not exceed 10.’’. 

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subject to subsection (c), the 

25 amendments made by this section shall apply with respect 


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1 to the regular decennial census conducted for 2030 and 

2 each subsequent decennial census. 

3 SEC. 3. STUDY OF FACILITY NEEDS AND LOGISTICAL 

4 ISSUES. 

5 (a) STUDY RELATING TO EXPANSION OF NUMBER

6 OF MEMBERS.— 

7 (1) STUDY.—The Architect of the Capitol, in 

8 consultation with the Administrator of General Serv9 ices and such other persons as the Architect con10 siders appropriate, shall conduct a study of the facil11 ity needs and other logistical issues involved in ex12 panding the number of Members of the House of 

13 Representatives as determined by the regular decen14 nial census conducted for 2030, as provided in this 

15 Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

16 (2) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 

17 2025, the Architect of the Capitol shall submit a re18 port to the Speaker of the House of Representatives 

19 on the study conducted under paragraph (1), and 

20 shall include in the report such recommendations as 

21 the Architect considers appropriate. 

22 (b) STUDY PRIOR TO EACH SUBSEQUENT REAPPOR23 TIONMENT.— 

24 (1) STUDY.—After each regular decennial cen25 sus, the Architect of the Capitol, in consultation 


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1 with the Administrator of General Services and such 

2 other persons as the Architect considers appropriate, 

3 shall conduct a study of the facility needs and other 

4 logistical issues involved in setting the number of 

5 Members of the House of Representatives, as deter6 mined by such census, at the applicable number of 

7 Representatives under section 22(d) of the Act enti8 tled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subse9 quent decennial census and to provide for apportion10 ment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 

11 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(d)), as amended by this 

12 Act. 

13 (2) REPORT.—Not later than January 1 of the 

14 year immediately preceding the first year of a Con15 gress for which the number of Representatives is set 

16 at the applicable number of Representatives under 

17 section 22(d) of such Act, as determined by the reg18 ular decennial census, the Architect of the Capitol 

19 shall submit a report to the Speaker of the House 

20 of Representatives on the study conducted under 

21 paragraph (1), and shall include in the report such 

22 recommendations as the Architect considers appro23 priate. 

24 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

25 apply with respect to the regular decennial census 


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1 conducted for 2030 and each subsequent regular de2 cennial census. 

Æ 


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