Census

Curtailing the time for conducting the census in the middle of a pandemic will lead to "fatal data quality flaws that are unacceptable," Census Bureau career officials warned in an internal document.

Because of COVID-19, the Trump administration said it needed more time to make sure the national head count is complete and accurate. But in July, it abruptly decided to end counting a month early.

The third political appointment at the bureau in less than two months comes amid growing concerns about the Trump administration interfering with the 2020 census to benefit Republicans.

The Constitution says the count used to divide up seats in Congress must include every person living in the U.S. President Trump is calling for unauthorized immigrants to be left out.

The president is calling for unauthorized immigrants to be excluded from census numbers used to divide seats in Congress. The Constitution says the count must include every person living in the U.S.

Despite the pandemic, Census Bureau officials say they've determined it's safe enough for visits to unresponsive homes in parts of Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

Some Democrats are calling new political appointments at the federal government's largest statistical agency a Trump administration attempt to interfere with the 2020 census.

After failing to get the now-blocked citizenship question onto 2020 census forms, the Trump administration is turning to IRS tax forms, Medicaid data and Interior Department law enforcement records.

The Census Bureau says it's suspending for two more weeks the hiring of temporary workers and in-person visits in remote communities and areas recovering from natural disasters for the 2020 count.

It happens only once a decade, so it can be hard to make sense of the census. NPR's census reporter has rounded up facts that debunk some of the most common misconceptions about the national count.

The 2020 census officially starts in an Alaskan fishing village along the Bering Sea. Starting the count there in January, when the ground is frozen, makes it easier to reach far-flung communities.