Two Delaware residents have initiated legal action against federal officials to increase the state's representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, targets Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other key administrators, alleging that Delaware citizens suffer from significant underrepresentation compared to residents of other states.
The plaintiffs, University of Delaware professor David Redlawsk and resident Kevin Price, contend that Delaware's single at-large House seat serves approximately 991,000 people. They argue this ratio provides less representation per person than any other state. To illustrate the disparity, the suit points to Montana, which has just under 1.1 million residents but holds two House seats.
The legal team argues that the fixed limit of 435 seats in the House creates a severe and avoidable disadvantage for Delaware voters. The complaint states that the plaintiffs suffer a concrete injury due to the dilution of their voice in Congress. The suit seeks a declaration from a three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the 435-seat limit under the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 is unconstitutional.
Lutnick is named as a defendant because the Department of Commerce oversees the Census Bureau, which conducts the decennial population count used to determine House apportionment. The suit also names Commerce Deputy Under Secretary George Cook, who is currently performing the duties of the Census Bureau director, and House Clerk Kevin McCumber.
Attorney Andrew Tutt, representing the plaintiffs, highlighted the stagnation of the House's size relative to population growth. He noted that the current statutory mechanism has carried the same total number of seats forward as the U.S. population has expanded. According to Tutt, the 2020 census apportioned seats among more than 331 million people, a figure more than three and a half times larger than the 92 million Americans counted in 1910 before the current House size was established.
The plaintiffs are requesting that the court create an additional House seat for Delaware in time for the 2028 presidential election. If granted, Delaware would have two representatives for its population of 990,837 people, resulting in an average of approximately 495,419 people per representative.
The proposed remedy would bring the total number of House members to 436. The lawsuit emphasizes that this change would provide Delaware voters with the additional representation their population requires while leaving the seat allocations for the other 49 states unchanged.
The suit further requests that if Congress fails to act on the request, the court should order the increase in the House's composition to 436 members. This procedural step is designed to ensure the remedy is implemented even if legislative action is delayed.
As of the filing, the Department of Commerce and the House clerk had not immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit. The case represents a notable challenge to the long-standing structure of congressional apportionment in the United States.
