A coalition of 142 Republican state lawmakers is demanding President Trump immediately appoint a Census Bureau director to ensure an accurate citizen count for the 2030 Census — and they’re not mincing words about what went wrong last time.
The 2020 Census admitted it undercounted Republican states and overcounted Democrat states.
“The Census determines political power in America for the next decade,” Louisiana Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Beryl Amedée told The Federalist. “After admitted inaccuracies and distortions created by statistical sampling and other schemes like differential privacy that were used in the 2020 Census, we need a bold new Census director who will take the reins post haste to make the necessary changes to the process.”
“We must ensure an honest and accurate citizen count in 2030. The clock is ticking.”
The State Freedom Caucus Network organized the Monday letter, which arrives as the Census Bureau has operated without a Senate-confirmed director since early 2025. The agency is responsible for counting the American population every 10 years and deciding how many U.S. House seats each state receives.
The lawmakers didn’t hold back in their criticism. They expressed concern that the Census Bureau “has drifted from its constitutional mission,” specifically calling out the bureau’s “continued reliance on differential privacy, statistical adjustments, and other methodologies that corrupt reported data to distort an actual enumeration of our citizenry.”
The numbers tell the story.
The Census Bureau released a report in 2022 admitting it undercounted mostly Republican-led states — five of six — and overcounted mostly Democrat-led states — six of eight — in the 2020 census. Democrat states were handed congressional seats they didn’t deserve, while Republican states were wrongly deprived of representation.
The letter also raises alarm about the removal of the citizenship question from the census form, arguing that this policy “has empowered the non-citizen population count to deform congressional apportionment and state and federal redistricting.”
A January 2026 forecast by the American Redistricting Project estimated that an accurate 2030 apportionment excluding noncitizens would lead to blue states like California and New York losing House seats while red states like Florida and Tennessee gain seats.
“The U.S. Constitution calls for an actual enumeration of our citizens; not a misleading tally padded by illegal aliens and skewed by statistical gimmickry,” Missouri Freedom Caucus Chair Sen. Nick Schroer told The Federalist. “President Trump must nominate a Census Bureau director who will restore that constitutional standard and ensure the 2030 Census accurately counts only U.S. citizens.”
Trump fought to include the citizenship question during his first administration. The Supreme Court’s 2019 Department of Commerce v. New York decision found that the federal government possesses the authority to ask the question, but a 5-4 majority ruled that the administration did not “adequately” explain its move to reinstate it — effectively blocking it from the 2020 Census.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s liberal justices in that majority.
The lawmakers concluded their letter by outlining “foundational elements” a new Census director must follow, including “Restoring the constitutional focus on an actual enumeration of our citizens instead of social and political engineering” and “Pursuing lawful avenues to obtain and publish accurate citizenship data.”
“Mr. President, your Administration has rightly and consistently emphasized election integrity as a fundamental part of regaining America’s trust in our government. Key decisions are being made at the Census Bureau now that will affect America’s path forward.”
The Census Bureau is currently led by Acting Director George Cook, who serves as deputy under secretary in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs.
The 2030 Census is less than four years away. The question is whether Trump will move fast enough to ensure it counts what the Constitution demands — citizens, not statistical guesswork.
