One Citizen, One Seat Act

If enacted and upheld, this bill would reallocate House seats away from California, Texas, Florida, and other high-immigration states to less-diverse states, fundamentally shifting national legislative power. Federal formula grants for education (Title I), Medicaid, transportation, and housing are distributed using decennial census population data; using citizen-only counts would reduce funding by several billion dollars annually to affected states. California alone could lose $5-10 billion in annual federal funding. The bill's constitutionality is highly vulnerable: the Supreme Court in *Wesberry v. Sanders* (1964) and subsequent cases has held that House apportionment must be based on 'whole number of persons' under the 14th Amendment, not citizens only. A similar proposal in 2020 was rejected by federal courts. The practical effect would create fiscal pressure on schools, hospitals, and local governments in high-immigration cities. Legal challenges would be filed immediately, likely resulting in preliminary injunction while courts resolve constitutionality, leaving states unable to implement the citizen-only counts during the 119th Congress period.