Speaker Johnson applauds House passing bill to add US citizenship question to census: 'Common sense'

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., applauded the GOP-led House of Representatives for passing legislation that would add a U.S. citizenship question to the census.

The census is conducted every 10 years.

The bill passed on Wednesday evening 206-202 with 11 House members not voting. The vote result was along party lines. 

“The only influence illegal immigrants should have in U.S. elections is to motivate American citizens to vote out the politicians who allowed them in. We should not reward states and cities that violate federal immigration laws and maintain sanctuary policies with increased Congressional representation,” Johnson said. “Common sense dictates that only American citizens should be counted for electoral apportionment and the Equal Representation Act ensures that.”  

Comer said federal representation should be determined by U.S. citizens only.

“The Biden Administration’s open border policies have created the worst border crisis in American history, impacting every American. In the midst of a crisis that is setting records for illegal border crossings, Congress is today taking steps to proactively protect a fair electoral process," Comer said.

"This bill adds a simple citizenship question to the decennial census questionnaire to ensure accurate information, and provides that only citizens are counted for apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives and Electoral College votes. American citizens’ federal representation should be determined by American citizens only,” he added.

If it became law, 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, the results of each census is "used to calculate the number of House memberships to which each state is entitled," which is referred to as apportionment.

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

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