First person of color confirmed as next Census Bureau leader

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Robert Santos was confirmed Thursday arsenic the adjacent U.S. Census Bureau director, becoming the archetypal idiosyncratic of colour to pb the nation’s largest statistical bureau connected a imperishable basis.

The Senate approved Santos, a third-generation Mexican American statistician from San Antonio, Texas, for the occupation overseeing a bureau that conducts the once-a-decade census, often described arsenic the nation’s largest civilian mobilization, arsenic good arsenic surveys that make the information infrastructure of the nation.

The confirmation deed a tiny velocity bump erstwhile Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida past period blocked an effort for a speedy support and asked for a ceremonial vote, saying helium feared Santos would politicize the bureau, without offering further explanation. During his confirmation hearing, Santos, a statistician by training, told senators helium was not a politician, though the presumption is simply a governmental appointment.

The caller manager inherits a Census Bureau workforce recovering from the execution of the astir hard caput number of U.S. residents successful caller memory. The 2020 census was challenged past twelvemonth by the pandemic, earthy disasters, delays and attempts astatine governmental interference by the Trump administration.

The pandemic besides disrupted 1 of the Census Bureau’s astir important programs, the one-year American Community Survey, which provides a wide-ranging representation of the U.S. connected everything from commute times to acquisition levels. Bureau officials announced earlier this twelvemonth that the 2020 survey won’t beryllium released successful its accustomed format this autumn due to the fact that of troubles collecting information during the pandemic.

In a missive past summertime to Senate leaders, a conjugation of civilian rights groups urged Santos’ confirmation.

“It is important for the bureau to beryllium led by a Senate-confirmed manager who tin talk with the level of authorization needed to physique wide assurance successful the results of a hard and arguable census,” said the missive sent by The Leadership Conference connected Civil and Human Rights.

In his caller job, Santos, 66, volition beryllium liable for starring the bureau arsenic it lays the groundwork for executing the adjacent census successful 2030, arsenic good arsenic shepherding the past releases of information gathered during the 2020 census and supervising different bureau programs.

During his confirmation hearing, Santos told senators that his duel passions were statistic and helping people. He is simply a erstwhile president of the American Statistical Association and was vice president and main methodologist astatine the Urban Institute.

“Those opportunities that I’ve had allowed maine to judge that I should wage it forward, and I’ve tried to bash that each time of my life,” Santos said. “Census Bureau information helps weave america unneurotic to signifier a much cleanable union. Although this is simply a governmental position, I’m not a politician.”

Santos’ predecessor, Steven Dillingham, resigned past January, successful the mediate of information crunching for the 2020 census, portion facing disapproval that helium was acceding to President Donald Trump’s request to nutrient citizenship accusation astatine the disbursal of information quality.

Bureau workers were nether important unit from 2 Trump governmental appointees to fig retired who was successful the U.S. illegally utilizing national and authorities administrative records, and Dillingham, besides a Trump appointee, acceptable a deadline for bureau statisticians to supply him with a method study connected the effort, according to the Office of Inspector General. The effort to stitchery citizenship accusation was abandoned a abbreviated clip later.

At the time, Dillingham described the events arsenic a misunderstanding and said determination were nary imaginable violations of laws oregon regulations.

During Dillingham’s tenure, the Trump medication unsuccessfully tried to enactment a citizenship question connected the 2020 census questionnaire and named a fistful of governmental appointees that statisticians and Democratic lawmakers disquieted would politicize the once-a-decade caput number of each U.S. resident. The president besides issued 2 directives that advocacy groups said were portion of efforts to suppress the information of minorities and immigrants successful the 2020 census.

After Dillingham resigned, the agency’s main operating officer, Ron Jarmin, assumed the director’s duties connected an interim basis. Santos volition capable the remainder of Dillingham’s term, which expires astatine the extremity of the year, and past commencement a caller five-year term.

Santos told senators that the Census Bureau needs much independency and transparency to physique nationalist spot successful the statistical bureau and that the agency’s vocation unit needed nurturing aft enduring “a tumultuous 2020.”

The 2020 census experienced unprecedented obstacles due to the fact that of the coronavirus pandemic, arsenic good arsenic wildfires successful the West and hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. The pandemic forced the Census Bureau to hold until April the merchandise of authorities colonisation numbers utilized to apportion legislature seats. The merchandise of redistricting information utilized for drafting legislature and legislative districts was postponed until August.

Looking up to the adjacent census successful 2030, Santos said helium would beryllium successful favour of a connection that ne'er got disconnected the crushed earlier the past census — combining the questions astir contention and Hispanic origin. A erstwhile survey by the Census Bureau showed that doing truthful would summation effect rates by Hispanics, who whitethorn beryllium unsure however to reply the contention question due to the fact that they often are from mixed contention and taste backgrounds.

The Office of Budget and Management had considered pairing the questions for the 2020 census, but the Trump medication decided to support the contention question abstracted from the ethnicity one.

“I tin usage my ain idiosyncratic position arsenic a Latino, and I tin usage my probe acquisition and my enactment position, to enactment with OMB to marque definite that the due attraction is fixed to that circumstantial issue,” Santos said.

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Follow Mike Schneider connected Twitter astatine https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP

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