Overview

• Trump instructed the Commerce Department via Truth Social to begin a “highly accurate” census based on “modern day facts and figures” and 2024 election data that omits people in the country illegally.
• A mid-decade count would break a practice in place since 1790 and conflict with Article I, Section 2 and the 14th Amendment requirement to count the whole number of persons every ten years.
• Excluding undocumented residents could cost states such as California, Texas and Florida congressional seats and Electoral College votes while advantaging Republican-leaning states.
• The administration has provided no detailed methodology or legal authority for an off-cycle census, drawing warnings from legal scholars about its constitutionality.
• Census results also guide over $1.5 trillion in annual federal funding for schools, healthcare and infrastructure, raising high stakes for communities nationwide.