 The first federal law governing the size of the House and the method of allotting representatives, the Apportionment Act of 1792, was signed into law by George Washington in April 1792.It set the number of members of the House at 105 (effective March 4, 1793, with the 3rd Congress).With but one exception, the Apportionment Act of 1842, Congress enlarged the House of Representatives by various degrees following each subsequent census until 1913, by which time the membership had grown to 435.