Robert Santos was confirmed as the subsequent US Census Bureau director on Thursday, turning into the primary particular person of shade to go the nation’s largest statistical company on a everlasting foundation.
The Senate authorized Santos, a third-generation Mexican American statistician from San Antonio, Texas, to supervise a bureau that conducts the census as soon as a decade, typically described because the nation’s largest civilian mobilization. , in addition to surveys that make up the nation’s knowledge infrastructure.
Last month Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida confirmed over a small velocity bump, blocking an accelerated approval effort and asking for a proper vote, fearing Santos would politicize the bureau, with out offering additional rationalization.
During his affirmation listening to, Santos, a statistician by coaching, advised the senators that he was not a politician, though the place is a political appointment.
The new director inherits a Census Bureau workforce to get well from the execution of the hardest head rely of US residents in latest reminiscence. The 2020 Census was challenged final yr by pandemics, pure disasters, delays and makes an attempt at political interference by the Trump administration.
The pandemic additionally disrupted one of many Census Bureau’s most necessary packages, the one-year American Community Survey, which offers a complete image of America on all the pieces from commute instances to training ranges. Bureau officers introduced earlier this yr that the 2020 survey wouldn’t be launched in its regular format because of difficulties in accumulating knowledge throughout the pandemic.
In a letter to Senate leaders final summer time, a coalition of civil rights teams urged Santos’ affirmation.
The letter, despatched by the Leadership Conference on Civil, mentioned, “It is important for the Bureau to be led by a Senate-confirmed director who can speak with the level of authority necessary to build widespread confidence in the results of a difficult and controversial census.” Is.” and human rights.
In his new job, Santos, 66, might be answerable for main the company because it executes the subsequent census in 2030, in addition to shepherding the ultimate launch of information collected throughout the 2020 census and different bureau packages. Performs floor work to observe.
During his affirmation listening to, Santos advised senators that his dueling passions had been statistics and serving to individuals. He is a previous president of the American Statistical Association and was vice chairman and chief methodologist on the Urban Institute.
“The opportunities that have made me believe that I should pay it forward, and I’ve tried to do that every day of my life,” Santos mentioned. “The Census Bureau figures assist us weave collectively to type a extra excellent union. Though it’s a political place, I’m not a politician.”
Santos’s predecessor, Steven Dillingham, resigned final January, within the midst of information crunching for the 2020 Census, dealing with criticism that he sought to provide citizenship data on the expense of President Donald Trump’s knowledge high quality. had been making allegations.
Bureau staff had been underneath vital stress from two Trump political appointees to search out out who was within the US illegally accessing federal and state administrative data, and Dillingham, a Trump appointee, offered a technical report back to Bureau statisticians. To set a time restrict. effort, in line with the Office of the Inspector General. Attempts to assemble citizenship data had been deserted after a short while.
At the time, Dillingham described the incidents as a misstep and mentioned there was no potential violation of legal guidelines or rules.
During Dillingham’s tenure, the Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to place the citizenship query on the 2020 Census questionnaire and designated a handful of political appointees that apprehensive statisticians and Democratic lawmakers would politicize the last decade’s head rely of each American resident.
The president additionally issued two directives that advocacy teams mentioned had been a part of efforts to suppress the participation of minorities and immigrants within the 2020 census.
After Dillingham resigned, the company’s chief working officer, Ron Germain, assumed the director’s duties on an interim foundation. Santos will fill the rest of Dillingham’s time period, which expires on the finish of the yr, after which start a brand new five-year time period.
Santos advised senators that the Census Bureau wants extra independence and transparency to construct public confidence within the statistical company and nurture the company’s profession employees after enduring “a turbulent 2020”.
The 2020 census skilled unprecedented disruptions because of the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to wildfires within the West and hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. The pandemic compelled the Census Bureau to delay till April the discharge of the state’s inhabitants numbers, which had been used to divide Congressional seats. The redistribution knowledge used to delineate congressional and legislative districts was postponed till August.
Looking forward to the subsequent census in 2030, Santos mentioned he would favor a proposal that mixed questions of race and Hispanic origin that by no means took off earlier than the final census. A earlier research by the Census Bureau confirmed that doing so would enhance response charges by Hispanics, who could also be not sure the right way to reply the race query as a result of they’re typically from blended race and ethnic backgrounds.
The Office of Budget and Management thought-about including inquiries to the 2020 census, however the Trump administration determined to maintain the race query separate from ethnicity.
Santos mentioned, “I can use my personal perspective as a Latino, and I can use my research experience and my leadership position to work with OMB to ensure that specific issues are addressed.” Due consideration has been given to it.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
