12,000 members is hyperbole, but Congress should be bigger. They used to increase the size of Congress with every census and reapportionment. But about 100 years ago, they couldn’t agree on how to do it, so they just didn’t. And it has stayed at 435 ever since.
By keeping the size of Congress fixed, the average population in each district gets higher and higher. But small states still get at least 1 representative! This increases the power of small states (who already get 2 Senators) even further.
12,000 members is hyperbole, but Congress should be bigger. They used to increase the size of Congress with every census and reapportionment. But about 100 years ago, they couldn’t agree on how to do it, so they just didn’t. And it has stayed at 435 ever since.
From https://thirty-thousand.org/house-size-why-435/
By keeping the size of Congress fixed, the average population in each district gets higher and higher. But small states still get at least 1 representative! This increases the power of small states (who already get 2 Senators) even further.