GOP-led House set to vote Wednesday on adding U.S. citizenship question to census

The census is conducted every 10 years and its results decide the 'number of House memberships to which each state is entitled'

By Nicholas Ballasy

Published: May 8, 2024 3:00pm

The GOP-led House of Representatives is scheduled to vote for Wednesday on legislation that would add a U.S. citizenship question to the census.

The census is conducted every 10 years.

The Equal Representation Act, would require a "citizenship question on the decennial census" as well as "modify apportionment of Representatives to be based on United States citizens instead of all persons."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, "at the conclusion of each census, the results are used to calculate the number of House memberships to which each state is entitled," a process referred to as apportionment.

The Trump administration explored adding a citizenship question to 2020 census forms but ultimately decided not to move forward.

Democrats oppose adding such a question, arguing that the census should count every person residing in the U.S. regardless of their immigration status.