On June 30, Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) announced that he had introduced the Equal Representation Act. The bill, which Senator Hagerty sponsored in the 118th Congress, would require the Census Bureau to include a citizenship question on the decennial census and exclude noncitizens from the apportionment base. Co-sponsors of the legislation include Senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), John Hoeven (R-ND), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Jim Justice (R-WV), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jim Risch (R-ID), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
The bill, which is awaiting a number and committee assignment, will likely be referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for further consideration. As reported by The Census Project, a similar bill, H.R. 151, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Chuck Edwards (R-NC-11) in January 2025.
