We the People have lost OUR voice.

Not because Americans stopped participating—but because our system of representation has failed to grow with the nation it serves.

In 1929, Congress passed the Permanent Apportionment Act, arbitrarily capping the U.S. House of Representatives at 435 members. At the time, the U.S. population was just over 120 million. Today, it exceeds 330 million—yet the House remains frozen at the same size.

As a result, each House member now represents roughly 760,000 people, making meaningful representation, accountability, and constituent access nearly impossible.

In 1910 the number of members was last increased based on the census to 435. That is 116 years ago!!!

The Federal budget was about $690 million in 1910 - certainly a manageable amount for 435 House members to properly conduct oversight of how OUR hard earned taxes are spent. Forward to 2025 and the budget is at $5.2 Trillion - 17 times larger than in 1910. Impossible for US to have proper oversight.

This is not what the Founders intended.
When the Constitution was ratified, there was one Representative for every 60,450 people. Per Article I, Section 2 of OUR Constitution, the House was designed to grow with the population to remain close to the people. For more than a century, Congress honored that principle—until it stopped almost 100 years ago.

The Current System Protects Power, Not Representation
The cap on the House benefits both major political parties, which maintain control through high barriers to entry, safe districts, and extreme reliance on wealthy donors, special interests, lobbyists and gross gerrymandering..

The consequences are clear:

Third parties struggle to gain traction
Elections become prohibitively expensive
Billionaires and corporate donors dominate campaign funding
Everyday Americans are effectively priced out of public office

In the 2024 election cycle:

Campaigns relied overwhelmingly on large donors, not small contributors
Kamala Harris’s campaign received 57% of funds from big donors
Donald Trump’s campaign received 71% from big donors
The 10 most expensive House races alone totaled $364 million, much of it from outside the districts represented
The average cost to run for a House seat is now around $2 million, making it nearly impossible for ordinary citizens to compete
This is not democracy—it is consolidation of power.

 
The Representation Gap: The U.S. vs. Other Democracies
The United States now has one of the lowest levels of representation among democratic nations.

United States: 1 Representative per 760,000 people
United Kingdom: 1 per 98,066
Germany: 1 per 115,112
Only India has less representation per capita than the U.S.

The claim that expanding the House would make governance “too difficult” ignores the reality that other democracies function effectively with far more representatives per citizen. The real difficulty lies not in governing—but in maintaining control by the two dominant parties.

The lack of meaningful third-party development is not an accident. It is evidence of a system designed to preserve incumbency and elite influence.

 
The Solution: PROJECT 1305
PROJECT 1305 proposes a clear, bold, and achievable reform:

👉 Expand the U.S. House of Representatives from 435 to 1,305 members.

This would:

Reduce the ratio to 1 Representative per ~257,471 people
Restore closer, more accountable representation
Make elections more competitive and accessible
Dilute the influence of lobbyists (currently ~27 per Representative)
Reduce the power of billionaire donors and dark money
Make gerrymandering more difficult
Strengthen congressional oversight, including the House Oversight Committee
Importantly:

This does NOT require a constitutional amendment.
Congress created the 435-seat cap by law—and Congress can change it by law.

 
Cost vs. Value
Critics argue expansion would be too expensive. But the facts say otherwise.

Estimated cost of adding 870 Representatives: ~$4 billion per year
Identified federal waste: ~$500 billion per year
Better representation and oversight would more than pay for itself—particularly in areas like defense spending, where weak oversight has led to massive cost overruns. The Department of War has never passed an annual audit of expenditures and Congress has given them a 'get out of jail card' every year.

 
Why Incremental Proposals Are Not Enough
Other ideas, such as the Wyoming Rule or Cube Root Rule (580–590 seats), are too modest to meaningfully change the system. After more than 100 years of ignoring constitutional intent—and with decades likely before another expansion—incrementalism fails to meet the scale of the problem.

A tripling of the House is necessary to:

Catch up with population growth
Break entrenched two-party dominance
Restore genuine accountability
Setting 1,305 Representatives provides a clear, actionable goal, not a vague promise of reform.

 
A Call for a Grassroots Movement
PROJECT 1305 is unique. While many organizations support House expansion alongside other reforms, PROJECT 1305 focuses exclusively on this single, foundational issue.

This change will not be led by billionaires or political insiders. It must be driven by:

Grassroots organizing
Public commitments from candidates through a proposed “Contracts with Americans” pledge
Sustained citizen pressure on Congress
Large-scale public demonstrations, if necessary
As an American who has mostly been silent, I believe silence is no longer an option.

This is not about left vs. right.
It is about representation vs. elite control.

 
Call to Action
We call on Congress to:

Pass legislation expanding the U.S. House of Representatives to 1,305 members
Commit to implementing this reform by 2028
Restore the principle that government exists to serve the people—not donors, lobbyists, or entrenched power
Sign this petition if you believe:

Democracy works best when representatives are accountable
Money has too much influence in politics
We the People deserve a House that actually represents us
Expand the House. Restore representation. Reclaim democracy.