Washington, D.C. — Today, John Bisognano, President of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), released the following statement in response to Republicans re-introducing the “Equal Representation Act” and newly proposing the absurd Trump-backed “Making American Elections Great Again” bills. Both measures would add a citizenship question and S 2205 would remove all individuals who are not citizens of the United States from the census count used to determine how congressional seats are apportioned. The new Trump-backed proposal, which has not yet been introduced, would purportedly even direct the federal government to immediately conduct a new census—excluding all individuals who are not citizens of the United States —before the 2026 midterms.

“The absurd and blatantly unconstitutional measures being proposed by MAGA Republicans to manipulate the census – which are premised on the decidedly debunked Big Lie – would strip millions of Americans of representation, simply to pursue Trump’s reckless partisan agenda. 

“A fair and accurate census – which the Constitution explicitly requires be based on the ‘whole number of persons’ living in our country – is essential to ensure equal representation in Congress and appropriately determine how billions in federal funding should be shared across communities for critical resources like hospitals, roads and schools. Congress must reject this dangerous attempt to disenfranchise Americans, undermine the accuracy of the census, and give Republicans an opportunity to further gerrymander ahead of the 2026 midterms – but if it is passed and signed it will be challenged immediately, on clear and obvious grounds.”

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