On Feb. 2, YouTuber and educator Mr. Beat started a livestream with one goal in mind: convince at least 200 people to contact his congressman about uncapping membership in the US House of Representatives.
“Why is literally no one else bringing this up? … You don’t need an amendment to the Constitution, all you need is a bill in Congress,” he said at the onset of his stream.
Uncapping the House of Representatives requires legislation that increases the number of seats past 435, a figure which was put in place almost a century ago by the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929.
Before 1929 though, Congress regularly expanded. In fact, the subject was raised by George Washington during the 1787 Constitutional Convention, where he called for a ratio of 1 Representative for every 30,000 people.
Since 1929, the country’s population has nearly tripled, and the House currently has 1 Representative for every 750,000 Americans on average, a notion Mr Beat finds particularly troubling. He refers to the situation as a “representation crisis,” and said most members of the House are out of touch with the wants and needs of their many constituents.
Mr Beat, who is well known for his YouTube videos about American presidents, resides in Kansas’s first congressional district, under Representative Tracey Mann. The YouTuber has been calling or emailing the 5-year incumbent every day since Jan. 1 about uncapping the House. He has yet to receive a substantial response.
“I think that’s the one issue that solves all the other issues,” Mr Beat said. Sanctions for ICE, congressional term limits, an end to Gerrymandering and the growing affordability crisis are all examples he lists as issues that can be better addressed with closer representation.
Since the livestream, his activism has only accelerated. He recently interviewed Representative Sean Casten of Illinois, who is spearheading the campaign to uncap from within The House with a proposed plan of democratic reforms. He also brought up the issue in a talk with California Governor, and speculated 2028 presidential candidate, Gavin Newsom.
Although his call to action has yet to yield a reply from Representative Mann, Mr Beat remains confident. “Do not ever let a politician make you feel powerless or redundant. We outnumber them. They work for us,” he said in response to a chatter’s message.
“The current average age of a Representative is 58. No offense to 58-year-olds, but the average 58-year-old is incredibly out of touch with what Gen Z is going through right now. Only one member of Congress is Gen Z. With an Uncapped House, that number goes way up,” Mr. Beat said when asked to comment on how uncapping the House will affect students and young people.
Attempts were made to receive comments from Representative Buddy Carter of Georgia’s first congressional district — which represents the Armstrong Campus — about his opinion on uncapping the House. The Representative’s office has not issued a response.
