PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — America is a lot different now than it was a hundred years ago. But the number of members of the U.S. House of Representatives is still the same.
“(The House of Representatives) was last set in 1913, 108 years ago and they set it at 435,” Dr. Fred Foley Jr., adjunct instructor of political science at La Salle University tells the KYW Newsradio In Depth podcast.
But if there was the popular will to do so, Foley says it wouldn’t actually be that difficult to change the number. “Congress could change it by a simple legislative act passed by the House and Senate, signed by the president. (It) does not require a constitutional amendment to change it.”
Foley says there’s a good argument to increase the number of representatives on the front page of the U.S. census report. In 1913, the U.S had less than a third of 2019’s population. One representative today could be speaking on behalf of more than 700,000 people.
Being a congressperson comes with two main goals, according to Dr. Foley. One is to receive grievances and do casework for constituents. The other is to represent them.
“With that large number of constituents, and even with the large staff they have in the district, it's hard if not borderline impossible for a congressman or a congresswoman to know what the consensus or the majority opinion is within the continents in his or her district.”
So what would happen if Congress decided to add more members to the House of Representatives?
Foley says that Republicans tend to dismiss the idea based on the belief it would only help Democrats -- but he’s not sure that’s correct. Rural areas and cities tend to lean Republican and Democratic, respectively, but the political battle lines are much less clearly drawn in the suburbs.
“The suburbs are up for grabs these days. As a result of the Trump presidency, the 2016 election, the 2020 election ... suburban voters, they were the ones that elected Joe Biden. Now they also elected, at least in the Pennsylvania area, they elected, statewide, Republicans as Auditor General and Treasurer. But then they elected both a Republican and Democrat in the House. So it's not crystal clear to me which party would be the big winner.”