Talk Elections

The House is set at 435 members, and as I calculate it, Puerto Rico would have about six representatives in the House.  Would the House be increased in size to 441, with the Reapportionment Act of 1929 being repealed, or would the House be maintained at it's current size, with other states losing representatives in order to "fill in" for Puerto Rico?

They'll probably keep it at 435 and reduce a few other states. I won't agree or disagree but I read somewhere that this is part of a Democratic plan to them 6 or so more seats in the House.

Assuming that the precedent of the admission of Alaska and Hawaii is used, Puerto Rico would gain additional Representatives without any States losing theirs, but when the next census was held, the size of the House be reduced back to 435 at that time.

Ernest hit the nail on the head.  The House would temporarily be expanded to 441, then shrunk back to 435 for the 2020 reapportionment.

Anybody else think that's sort of messed up?

It is what it is.  I'd like a bigger house, but that's not going to happen, and I fail to see why the admission of Puerto Rico would be a good reason to do it.

All they'd have to do is repeal the Reapportionment Act of 1929, but the ignorance of the governed ensures that that would never happen.  The reason why the admission of Puerto Rico would be a good reason for it, is because it's highly unfair to take away representatives from other states, just because a new state is added to the Union.

Apathy might be a better word than ignorance.  I have a feeling that even if you told the public that, they'd just say, "You want more sleazy Congressmen living off our tax dollars?"

Because the American people hate Congress as an institution.  :(

Well, that reaction would come primarily from ignorance.  A lot of people don't realize that Congressional pay is tiny compared to the rest of the federal budget, or that a larger House will make Congress a bit more accountable to the people.

We have to wait and see how the 2012 reapportionment goes before seeing which states would actually be negatively affected by such a scenario. Actually, 2022 would be the first elections to have the 435-fixed house with Puerto Rico represented, so that might be a better idea to wait for before making an assessment.

The House size is the only isuue about which I agree with you at 1000%, Morgan. :P

Îf an admission happens relatively quickly, the House will be at 441 members for almost a decade.

Quite reasonable to assume they'd amend the 1929 act sometime in 2019 or 20.

Incidentally, PR's six representatives would almost certainly come from two different parties, and it'll be interesting to see how closely they'll cooperate with the Democratic Caucus. (Presidential elections will be a different matter; the Republicans probably needn't bother putting up a slate of electors.)