In brief
The lead-up to the 2030 U.S. Census is marked by two significant lawsuits that could impact how the count is conducted and who is included. Allies of Donald Trump are contesting aspects of the Census Bureau's methods for ensuring accurate representation, while a Democratic law firm is intervening to safeguard the Bureau's interests. The outcomes of these cases may influence federal aid distribution and congressional representation in the future.
The next U.S. 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 U.S. Census Bureau, which is used to determine congressional representation and how much federal aid flows to the states. These legal 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 due to concerns over whether the U.S. Justice Department will defend the bureau vigorously.America First Legal, co-founded by Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, leads one of the lawsuits, filed in Florida. This case contests methods the bureau has used to protect participants’ privacy and to ensure that individuals in group-living facilities are counted. The lawsuit aims to halt these methods in the 2030 census and to revise 2020 figures.Another suit, filed in Louisiana by four Republican state attorneys general, seeks to exclude individuals in the U.S. illegally from the congressional apportionment count. Both cases have sparked interventions from groups concerned about the government's defense of the Census Bureau. As these legal battles unfold, the Census Bureau is moving forward with its planning for the 2030 census, set to conduct practice runs in six locations this year. Challenges to census methods could complicate the electoral process and influence funding allocation under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
