NEW: A person claiming to be a #2020Census door knocker has emailed the federal court in California that ordered the Trump admin to extend #2020Census counting, sharing texts that this person says show the admin is "planning on ignoring court orders." assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7218…
2. I've reached out to @uscensusbureau's public info office re: what guidance about #2020Census schedule was sent to field staff after a preliminary injunction was issued on Sept. 24.
3. UPDATE: U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has ordered attorneys in the #2020Census schedule lawsuit in California to respond by noon PT on Sept. 28 to the allegation that the Trump admin is not complying with the judge’s order to extend counting.
4. UPDATE: The Census Bureau is investigating the email and text messages sent to the federal court in Northern California and is “instructing field personnel of our continuing obligation to comply with court orders,” bureau chief spokesperson Michael Cook tells @NPR in an email.
@NPR 5. UPDATE: In a sworn statement, Census Bureau's Asst Director for Field Operations James Christy says on 9/25 at 3:23 p.m. ET - almost 16 hours after court issued order - he sent email to field ops managers telling them to keep conducting ops "as planned" assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7219…
@NPR 6. Christy says in sworn statement that instructions sent to the #2020Census door knocker via text - saying counting "deadline" is 9/30 - is "not part of any instruction I have transmitted to the field, & not consistent with my understanding of what field offices should be doing"
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A controversial Census Bureau proposal could shrink the rate of disability in the U.S. by about 40%. Public comments on this potential change are due Tuesday, Dec. 19, but NPR has confirmed there will be another opportunity to give feedback in the spring… npr.org/2023/12/18/121…
2. Public comments on these proposed changes to the disability questions on the American Community Survey can be emailed to acso.pra@census.gov. The bureau tells NPR they are set to be published here before the next public comment period in the spring: regulations.gov/document/USBC-…
3. The bureau says the proposed changes are part of a years-long effort to improve the quality of its disability data and standardize the statistics so they're comparable to other countries' numbers npr.org/2023/12/18/121…
The Supreme Court could upend how federal elections are run across the U.S. if it adopts even a limited version of a once-fringe idea called the "independent state legislature theory."
I wrote about what could happen after SCOTUS rules on Moore v. Harper: npr.org/2023/01/22/114…
A Supreme Court ruling that adopts some version of the “independent state legislature theory” could lead to more lawsuits and bring uncertainty to upcoming elections npr.org/2023/01/22/114…
A Supreme Court ruling that adopts some version of the “independent state legislature theory” could make it easier for state lawmakers to ignore voting rights protected under state law npr.org/2023/01/22/114…
I wrote about a push for the U.S. Supreme Court to change who counts as Black in redistricting.
Republican officials in Louisiana want a narrower definition of Blackness that excludes some Black people & could minimize Black voting power around the U.S. npr.org/2022/10/18/112…
2. A 2003 ruling by SCOTUS after the 2000 census — the first U.S. head count that allowed people to identify with more than one race — set a standard definition of "Black" for voting rights cases focused exclusively on the voting power of Black people. npr.org/2022/10/18/112…
3. That definition of "Black" has included everyone who identifies as Black for the census — including people who mark the boxes for Black and any other racial/ethnic category such as white, Asian & Hispanic/Latino, which federal gov't says is an ethnicity npr.org/2022/10/18/112…
SCOOP: Former President Donald Trump's payroll tax delay last year left a $7 million accounting mess for the Census Bureau, which has been trying to get ~28K former census workers to pay off their debt after giving up trying to collect from ~148K others npr.org/2021/11/05/104…
2. I deleted this earlier tweet that misstated the number of former 2020 census workers from whom the Census Bureau has decided to stop trying to collect unpaid payroll taxes. That number is 147,619 former workers (not ~178K):
3. The Census Bureau was one of many fed agencies the Trump admin directed last year to stop collecting some employees' share of a payroll tax that helps fund Social Security. Trump said it would get "bigger paychecks for working families.” But it’s also an accounting challenge.
I asked the office of Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. — who blocked an attempt to confirm Census Bureau director nominee Robert Santos by unanimous consent in October — why Scott said he's concerned Santos will “politicize" the bureau & not serve "in a fair and unbiased fashion"...
2. So far, Scott's office has not provided any evidence that would suggest Santos would “politicize” the Census Bureau and “not perform his duties in a fair and unbiased fashion."
Instead, Scott's communications director, McKinley Lewis, gave this statement by email:
3. I am waiting for any direct response to this follow-up question:
Does Sen. Rick Scott consider Robert Santos not qualified or competent to serve as Census Bureau director? If so, why?
NEW: The 2020 census likely undercounted people of color at rates higher than those of the last count, an @urbaninstitute study finds. That could translate into inequities in political representation & federal funding across the U.S. for the next 10 years npr.org/2021/11/02/104…
@urbaninstitute 2. Important to note: This @urbaninstitute study is *not* an analysis of 2020 census results & doesn't show actual over/undercounts. The estimates are based on a *simulated* census & a method for measuring accuracy that's different from the Census Bureau's urban.org/research/publi…
@urbaninstitute 3. Let's also keep in mind: When people of color are undercounted in the census, it's not just "some" groups who miss out on federal funding and political representation — it's *everyone* living in the local communities and states where there are people of color.