[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5837 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5837
To prohibit States from carrying out Congressional redistricting after
a decennial census and apportionment.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 28, 2025
Mr. Davis of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
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A BILL
To prohibit States from carrying out Congressional redistricting after
a decennial census and apportionment.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE: FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Restoring
Electoral Stability to Enhance Trust (RESET) Act of 2025''.
(b) Finding.--Congress finds that it has the authority to establish
the terms and conditions States must follow in carrying out
Congressional redistricting after an apportionment of Members of the
House of Representatives because--
(1) the authority granted to Congress under Article I,
Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States gives
Congress the power to enact laws governing the time, place, and
manner of elections for Members of the House of
Representatives; and
(2) the authority granted to Congress under section 5 of
the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution gives Congress the
power to enact laws to enforce section 2 of such amendment,
which requires Representatives to be apportioned among the
several States according to their number.
SEC. 2. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING AFTER AN APPORTIONMENT.
2 U.S.C. 2c is amended by adding at the end the following: ``A
State which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law after
an apportionment under section 22(a) of the Act entitled `An Act to
provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to
provide for an apportionment of Representatives in Congress', approved
June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be redistricted again until after
the next apportionment of Representatives under such section, unless:
``(a) a court requires the State to conduct such subsequent
redistricting to comply with the Constitution or to enforce the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 5 1973 et seq.).
``(b) a court conducts such subsequent redistricting to comply with
the Constitution or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.
5 1973 et seq.), in which case a State, through its legislature or a
state-mandated redistricting commission approved through a State
constitution, shall have an opportunity following a court-constructed
apportionment to conduct alternate subsequent redistricting to comply
with the Constitution or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42
U.S.C. 5 1973 et seq.).
``(c) a State orders a statewide referendum to conduct such
subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution or to enforce
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 5 1973 et seq.).''.
SEC. 3. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL OFFICE.
Nothing in this Act or in any amendment made by this Act may be
construed to affect the manner in which a State carries out elections
for State or local office, including the process by which a State
establishes the districts used in such elections.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Sections 2(a) and 2(b) and the amendment made by this Act shall
apply with respect to any Congressional redistricting which occurs
after the regular decennial census conducted during 2020. Section 2(c)
shall apply only with respect to statewide referenda ordered after
November 3, 2026.
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