Summary
Trump revoked Biden’s executive order that affirmed the inclusion of all residents in census results, regardless of immigration status.
This action clears the path for potential changes in how the 2030 census will be conducted, including the possibility of excluding non-citizens from apportionment counts.
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the constitutionality of such exclusions.
This one isn’t worth anyone’s time worrying about right now, except for the proper advocacy groups who will challenge it right away, where it might get to the Supreme Court during this Presidential term, or might not. He tried to pull this when he was in charge of the last Census, and was blocked in the courts. Which means it can be challenged right up to the point where they formalize the questions a few months beforehand, so whatever he decides now can be changed by the next President.
For those of you who are about to post “We can’t even be sure he will leave office when the Constitution says he will”, you’re right, of course. But if that happens the Census will be so low on the list of how we are fucked up that it will end up being a footnote, so it’s not worth worrying about in either case.
One thing missing here, and it’s the same bullshit they tried during his first term. The “Special Census” they tried to pull to impact the 2020 census. They essentially want to try and give power to state and local governments to not adhere to US Census data in order to only count people they choose. One portion of that plan detailed here: https://publicintegrity.org/politics/system-failure/trump-obstruction-of-2020-census/
You are absolutely correct, but I stand by my statement that Trump can’t really do much to affect that now, particularly through executive actions that the next President can always revoke. Even if his pet Congress passes laws that have more staying power, passing them now gives advocacy groups plenty of time to challenge them. It’s simply too early to make changes that will stick.
It will be the job of whoever is President in 2029/2030 to set up that Census. If that person is a MAGA Republican, with a fully Republican Congress backing him (you know it will be a man, don’t you?), then the Census will be fucked. But there will be so much else fucked that hardly anyone will notice the Census being so.