CRA Submits Comment Supporting Census Bureau’s Proposed Rule
The 2020 Census saw a weaponized enumeration with a disclosure
avoidance system called differential privacy that intentionally introduced
uncertainty and data falsification into granular population data, even though those
data are used to draw the districts through which Americans elect their
representatives. At the same time, the Census increasingly became a vehicle for
demographic and statistical objectives that blurred the reason the Constitution
requires an enumeration every ten years.
The Census Bureau now recognizes the need to change course. Its
Preliminary Regulatory Impact Analysis identifies a “regulatory failure”: existing
regulations “did not properly prioritize the population count” or adequately protect
it from potential distortions associated with disclosure avoidance and unnecessary
demographic questions. The proposed rule responds by returning the Census to first
principles. It establishes substantive residence criteria, prioritizes the accuracy of
the population count, and directs other statistical needs to tools better suited to
those purposes.
CRA strongly supports that direction. But the final rule should go further in
making the reform durable. In particular, Census and the Department of Commerce
should expressly recognize that the constitutional enumeration and the population
counts used to allocate political representation are different in kind from ordinary
federal “statistical products.” Ending noise infusion and the widespread data
falsification that follows is an important correction. Correcting the regulatory
architecture that allowed a constitutionally mandated count to be treated like an
ordinary statistical product is the necessary next step.
Referenced Documents
Related Posts
CRA Submits Comment Supporting Census Bureau’s Proposed Rule
The proposed rule is an important step toward de-weaponizing the decennial
Census. For too long, the Census has been treated as an all-purpose statistical
product rather than as a distinct constitutional function that determines the
allocation of political representation in the United States.
Former Trump DOJ Official Ed Martin Joins Center for Renewing America As Distinguished Fellow
Today the Center for Renewing America (CRA), founded by White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, announced that Edward R. Martin Jr., a veteran public servant and former senior official in the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice, will join the organization as a Distinguished Fellow.
Primer: Introducing the Campus Safety Tracker
The launch of the Campus Safety Tracker is designed to give citizens insight into the policies and political dynamics in the counties where these universities are located. Knowing the relative vulnerability of students to violent crime and illegal immigrant–driven chaos is an underappreciated but important data point when assessing whether a particular school is a good fit.