A GOP plan for the census would revive Trump's failed push for a citizenship question
A coalition of conservative groups is preparing for a chance to shape the country's next set of census results in case a Republican president returns to the White House in 2025.
Their playbook includes reviving a failed push for a citizenship question and other Trump-era moves that threaten the accuracy of the 2030 national head count.
The plan also calls for aligning the mission of the government agency in charge of the next tally of the country's residents with "conservative principles." Many census watchers, including a former top Trump administration official, tell NPR they find this position particularly alarming.
The policy proposals — led by The Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank — are part of a broader "Project 2025" plan for dismantling aspects of the U.S. government. "For too long, conservative presidents' agendas have been stymied by liberal bureaucrats who put their own agenda over that of the President, whom they serve," Paul Dans, a former Trump appointee who is Project 2025's director, claims in a statement.
Since the plan's release in April, most public attention has focused on its climate policy and calls to expand the president's power over federal agencies. But 2025 marks a pivotal year for one particular and often-neglected agency — the Census Bureau.
The federal government's largest statistical agency is about to start a for the upcoming once-a-decade count. Decisions expected to be made during
