American democracy depends on the census. Trump is undermining it
The very mechanisms that allow the census bureau to resist partisan interference are coming undone. And Congress is silent
TL;DR
- The US Constitution's use of the census for representation and resource allocation was a radical, groundbreaking concept.
- The Census Bureau has historically developed protocols to resist partisan interference and produce reliable data.
- Politicians have long schemed to shape census data, but recent actions directly target the data-making infrastructure.
- The Trump administration has made demands that compromise data confidentiality and force scientists to choose between unusable data, privacy risks, or withholding data.
- A politically motivated report on non-citizen voting, rushed through without oversight, damaged the Census Bureau's reputation.
- Proposed changes to the 2030 census plan, including not collecting race data, could hinder the enforcement of anti-discrimination laws like the Voting Rights Act.
- Congress has the constitutional responsibility to govern the census, but current inaction allows the executive branch to weaponize the process.
- The public's lack of attention to the census creates a vulnerability that weakens American democracy.