Shaheen Reacts to SCOTUS Ruling that Allows Trump to End Census Count Early: “The Supreme Court has effectively given the green light to the Trump administration’s politicization of the census”
**Shaheen, the Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the census, has been sounding the alarm on the Trump administration’s political attacks against the bureau that threaten a fair and accurate 2020 count**
**On the Senate floor earlier this month, Shaheen demanded the administration end its politicization of the U.S. Census & called on Senate leadership to prioritize an extension in legislation**
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the census, issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could end the 2020 census count early:
“The Supreme Court has effectively given the green light to the Trump administration’s politicization of the census,” said Shaheen. “This decision should compel Congress to act to preserve the extended timeline for gathering census responses. There is no policy justification for rushing the census count yet it risks undercounting communities across the country. An inaccurate census will trigger a constitutional crisis and further undermines faith in our governing institutions. Ensuring an accurate count should be a bipartisan priority and it’s very disappointing to see the Trump administration’s tampering with the census go unchecked.”
As the Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the census, Shaheen has led efforts in Congress to secure a fair and accurate 2020 census and to hold the administration responsible for its destructive efforts to politicizes the census count. On the Senate floor earlier this month, Shaheen demanded the administration an end its politicization of the census and called on Senate leadership to prioritize an extension in legislation. In September, Shaheen sent a letter with a group of lawmakers led by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) to the U.S. Census Bureau calling for more details on how they plan to use data from the 2020 Census to apportion congressional representation. In a previous letter Shaheen sent to U.S. Census Director Steven Dillingham, Shaheen called on him to answer a series of questions to ensure the 2020 Census is completed fairly and accurately. Her letter was in response to reports that the Trump administration is trying to rush execution of the Census for political purposes. In July, Senator Shaheen sent a bipartisan letter with Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) – the Chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the census – raising concerns of political impropriety after reports the Trump administration transferred political appointees to the nonpartisan agency.
In August, Shaheen sent a letter with a group of Senators to congressional leadership urging them to include an extension of the census in upcoming COVID-19 relief. Shaheen also sent a letter to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Commerce requesting an investigation into whether political pressure from the White House and Department of Commerce leadership led to the decision to shorten field data collection and self-response operations by a month. Additionally, Shaheen led a letter signed by all the Democrats on the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations subcommittee, calling for the Government Accountability Office to thoroughly assess and compile a report on the “completeness and quality” of the 2020 Census. The Government Accountability Office – which is an independent, non-partisan federal oversight agency – determined that the Trump administration’s rushed census reporting timeline threatens the accuracy of this year’s census count.
