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The House of Representatives has been capped at 435 seats since 1929, while the population tripled. One representative now speaks for nearly 800,000 Americans. It’s time for a change.
The media is buzzing about Representation
New York Times | Washington Post | FiveThirtyEight | The Atlantic | TIME | Pew Research | The Hill | The Dispatch
Self-Government. Your Voice. Email your Rep. Now!
Use our form to email your rep. We have provided a template, but feel free to explain why you believe we should uncap the house.
We are a bipartisan movement — Republicans, Democrats, and Independents united by one belief: that Americans deserve a government that actually represents them.
Join the Coalition.
Why 435?
Why does your representation matter?
At the founding, George Washington made his only recorded intervention at the Philadelphia Convention — arguing the ratio of representatives to citizens must not be too small. The Convention settled on 1 per 30,000.
In 1929, Congress arbitrarily froze the House at 435 seats. The population has since tripled. The result: a House disconnected from the people it was built to serve.
What the Experts are saying
When in the course of human events, power centralizes, and the people struggle to hold their government accountable, we are compelled to reflect. We must ask: what kind of nation do we wish to be? Do we want to be a free and independent people, where out of many, we become one? Do we want to be united in purpose to govern ourselves, sharing authority and responsibility? Or do we want to become another drifting republic, where power escapes the reach of the people and slides toward tyranny or anarchy?We hold these truths to be self-evident: that people were created free, that a Republican form of government derives its powers from the consent of the governed, and that consent is given through representation accountable to the people.Since 1929, the people’s power in the House of Representatives has remained capped at 435 seats, despite the American population having tripled. This artificial and arbitrary limitation concentrates power, distorts Democracy, and undermines the relationship between citizen and representative. The 435 member cap violates the very purpose for which representative government was established —to be accountable to The People.Therefore, we unite to:First, Support Reform:
We must increase the size of the House of Representatives to remain a free people. Second, Champion Honest Debate:
We welcome rigorous discussion on the methods of expansion.Third, Push for a Vote:
We demand that Congress hold hearings and openly debate legislation to uncap and modernize the House. Fourth, Expand the Tent:
We must engage Americans of all political stripes in this cause. In support of these commitments, we promise one another our good faith effort, honest voice, and steadfast commitment to peaceably repair representation to The People and balance under our great Constitution.No Cap Swag
The No Cap Team
The Representation Station is our flagship show dedicated to exploring representation and political reform.FAQ
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Uncapping the House means repealing the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929. The act was written at a time when our population was booming. After the 1920 census, which was the first to record more than 100 million people, and the first to record more people living in urban areas than rural ones, Congress struggled to write a new apportionment bill. The combination of a shifting and growing population created friction in the process. Some states were worried about losing representation, and other members were concerned about the effects of immigration on representation. Others thought the size of the House was already too large and unruly, having argued about it since the 1890s.
Since the cap in 1929, the population has tripled, making what was once a large, representative legislative body a very small, unrepresentative one compared to the population it serves. This is a major reason the system feels broken. With such a small legislative body, each member’s power is greater, and each citizen’s vote is less influential. The distance between the citizen and the representative strains communication and makes it harder to hold the representative accountable if they fail to fulfill their responsibilities.
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Yes. But it would require modernization and reconfiguration.
As noted in an article in The Washington Post, Danielle Allen has explained that the current size of the House chamber reflects 20th-century choices, not constitutional limits. The chamber was last expanded in 1913, and the permanent cap of 435 members dates to 1929, when the U.S. population was less than one-third of today’s.
The United States Capitol has been repeatedly renovated and expanded over time, including the addition of office buildings and underground facilities. Options to accommodate a larger House include:
Reconfiguring seating layouts
Using electronic voting and updated chamber design
Modifying the House floor footprint
Conducting some proceedings through hybrid or remote systems
In short, yes, but with some reengineering.
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But, your contributions may be deductible as a business expense under section IRC 162. Please talk to your CPA to learn more about your options. No Cap Fund does engage in limited lobbying. For FY 2025, 10% of any contribution is nondeductible, and 90% is deductible.
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No Cap Fund does engage in limited lobbying (see the above FAQ!). Most of our lobbying, and all of our political expenditures, however, occur through the “separate segregated fund” we maintain for “exempt functions” as defined by IRC 527(e)(2). That fund is referred to as that No Cap PAC and is in its infancy. If you want your funds to go strictly to lobbying and political expenditures, please visit and donate at the No Cap PAC!
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Our initial funds are educating and engaging with more Americans., including our grassroots action network.
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A 501(c)(4) incorporated in Wyoming.