In a move that has ignited House Republicans, President Obama has decided to bring the U.S. Census Bureau under White House jurisdiction. This is after many groups such as the Congressional Black Caucus, National Association of Latino Elected Officials and others expressed distaste that Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire would be in charge of the Census as Commerce Secretary.
The groups said that Secretary of Commerce designate Gregg opposed efforts to secure emergency funding for the 2000 Census, which demonstrates a potential lack of commitment to ensuring that hard-to-reach minority populations such as Latinos for the 2010 Census.
House Republicans were enraged and wrote a letter to President Obama, calling it “outrageous and unprecedented” and a “blatant partisan and political maneuver.”
The White House says that the Census has been a priority for the president and something he has wanted to re-evaluate. One Democratic aide close to the matter called the administration’s decision a direct response to the grievances of minority groups upset with Gregg’s appointment.
Details of how the White House’s interactions with the Census director remain unclear as the Census director is still yet to be named.
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