Census, Cut Short A Month, Rushes To Finish All Counting Efforts By Sept. 30

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U.S. Census Bureau worker Jennifer Pope wears a face covering at a walk-up counting site in Greenville, Texas, on July 31. The bureau is ending all counting efforts for the 2020 census on Sept. 30, a month shorter than previously announced, the bureau’s director confirmed Monday.

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The bureau’s announcement comes after NPR first reported that the agency had decided to cut short door-knocking efforts for the 2020 census. Those in-person interviews with unresponsive households started last month in some parts of the country and are set to expand nationwide on Aug. 11.

For days, the bureau has been sending mixed signals about its plans by quietly removing references to Oct. 31 — the previously announced end date for all counting efforts — from its website.

Before the pandemic hit, counting for the 2020 census was originally supposed to be finished by the end of July. But in April, the bureau, with public support from President Trump, announced that it needed to extend its timeline, including pushing back the end of counting to Oct. 31.

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But during a hearing last week before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Dillingham signaled a shift in plans by telling members of Congress that «the Census Bureau and others really want us to proceed as rapidly as possible.

The bureau also asked Congress to push back by four months the legal deadline of Dec. 31 for reporting the latest state population counts to the president. Delaying that deadline would allow the bureau to keep counting through Oct. 31 to «ensure the completeness and accuracy of the 2020 Census, Dillingham and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement released in April.

Democrats in Congress and many census advocates have become increasingly concerned that the White House is pressuring the bureau to stop counting soon in order to benefit Republicans when House seats are reapportioned and voting districts are redrawn.

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As early as May, top career officials at the bureau have said the bureau has already «passed the point of meeting the current census deadlines.

As negotiations over the latest coronavirus relief package continue, there is a window for lawmakers to include a provision that would give the bureau more time.

So far, however, only Democrats have introduced legislation that would extend deadlines, and Republicans have released no similar proposals.