President Donald Trump has said he has directed the US Department of Commerce to prepare for a new high-precision population census using updated data and the results of the 2024 presidential election. He affirmed that illegal residents in the US will not be included in this counting result.
According to the US Constitution, the census is a mandatory activity conducted by the Population Investigation Department under the Ministry of Commerce every 10 years, in years ending at 0 (for example: 2010, 2020). The collected data will determine how to allocate House of Representatives seats to each state, while affecting the division of the election area and the federal budget. Mr Trump has long opposed including illegal immigrants in this data.
The new directive comes as Republicans in Texas and several other states seek to redistribution the election area to increase their advantage ahead of the upcoming midterm parliamentary elections. The next census is scheduled for 2030. However, the White House has not confirmed whether Mr. Trump's directive requires earlier implementation.
conducting a population census is considered expensive and complicated. According to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the cost of the 2020 investigation reached nearly $14 billion.
