Lawsuits by Trump allies could shape how 2030 census is done, who will be counted

Orlando: The next US census is four years away, but two lawsuits playing out this year could affect how it will be done and who will be counted.

Allies of President Donald Trump are behind the federal lawsuits challenging various aspects of the once-a-decade count by the US Census Bureau, which is used to determine congressional representation and how much federal aid flows to the states.

The challenges align with parts of Trump’s agenda even as the Republican administration must defend the agency in court.

A Democratic law firm is representing efforts to intervene in both cases because of concerns over whether the US Justice Department will defend the bureau vigorously.

There have been no indications so far that government attorneys are doing otherwise, and department lawyers have asked that one of the cases be dismissed.

As the challenges work their way through the courts, the Census Bureau is pushing ahead with its planning for the 2030 count and

intends to conduct practice runs in six locations this year.

Aligning with Trump’s agenda

The goals of the lawsuits, particularly the Louisiana case, align with core parts of Trump’s agenda, although the 2030 census will be conducted under a different president because his second term will end in January 2029.

During his first term, for the 2020 census,

Trump tried to prevent those who are in the US illegally from being used in the apportionment numbers, which determine how many congressional representatives and Electoral College votes each state receives.

He also sought to have citizenship data collected through administrative records.

A Republican redistricting expert had written that using only the citizen voting-age population, rather than the total population,

for the purpose of redrawing congressional and state legislative districts could be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites.