FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
The U.S. Census logo appears on census materials received in the mail with an invitation to fill out census information online on March 19, 2020, in San Anselmo, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/TNS)
Census Bureau on inaugural clock after missing deadline
WASHINGTON After blowing past its statutory deadline, the Census Bureau is being squeezed between internal commitments to an accurate census and the outgoing Trump administration’s desire to reshape the apportionment process.
It’s the first time the agency missed its Dec. 31 deadline to deliver the data, used to distribute House seats, since Congress created the deadline in 1976. But after the coronavirus pandemic and Trump administration decisions disrupted the count, the Census Bureau still needs more time to finish its work, said outside experts including former agency director Ken Prewitt.