Updated – Against The Law: Obama’s Bid To Control The 2010 Census
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In Article I, Section 2 the US Constitution orders that “The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.”
The Congress, by law directed that:
“The Secretary [of Commerce] shall perform the functions and duties imposed upon him by this title, may issue such rules and regulations as he deems necessary to carry out such functions and duties, and may delegate the performance of such functions and duties and the authority to issue such rules and regulations to such officers and employees of the Department of Commerce as he may designate.”
As I read it, the Director of the Census must, by law, be within the Department of Commerce and under the direction of the (Senate approved) Secretary of Commerce who then reports to the president. Am I missing something?
Correction: From reading through Title 13, Chapter 1 it appears obvious to me that the POTUS has no role in the census whatsoever beyond, with Senate approval, selecting the Secretary of Commerce and, also with Senate approval, selecting the Director of the Census who ” shall perform such duties as may be imposed upon him by law, regulations, or orders of the Secretary.” Hhmmm… No president mentioned.
The Secretary of Commerce is the only authority the law recognizes. Since as commenter Laird points out, the Constitution did not place the census function in Article II – the Executive branch but in Article I – the Legislative branch, it is not at all within the President’s reach unless the legislature places it there.
I think that interpretation is supported by phrasing such as this taken from Subchapter 1 section 9 “No department, bureau, agency, officer, or employee of the Government, except the Secretary in carrying out the purposes of this title, shall …”
The Secretary of Commerce does not even report his findings to the President, but rather is instructed to ‘publish’ them. It looks quite clear to me that any incursion by the White House after those two Senate approved appointments is clearly against the law.
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) statement from earlier post.
Fox News: A political battle has erupted over next year’s census with Republican lawmakers protesting President Obama’s decision to take a bigger role in supervising the process.
The Census Bureau director, who reports to the commerce secretary, now also will keep the White House directly in the loop.
The White House says it is following a historical precedent and that this simply shows that the census is a priority for the president. But Republicans say it looks like a political power grab.
“The United States census should remain independent of politics,” House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. “It should not be directed by political operatives working out of the White House.”
“I’m very concerned,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told FOX News. “The Census Bureau has worked for decades to get rid of the cronyism and the partisan politics that had permeated that agency.
“And they have done it by bringing professionalism to the agency and making certain that individuals that came there went through a very thorough process. Anytime there is an administration that will tamper with that, this is a concern to anyone.”
Blackburn, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, says the committee will hold hearings to investigate the change.
The census count is supposed to be a non-partisan process. But it also helps to determine how congressional lines are drawn. And it shows the demographic changes of the nation of the past 10 years, which could shift billions of dollars in federal funding for things like schools and roads and job training.
Some Republicans suspect this could be a move by the White House to gerrymander those political boundaries so they benefit Democratic candidates.
The move comes after some advocates worried that Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., Obama’s nominee for commerce secretary, wouldn’t push hard for a count of Hispanics and other minorities in the census.
Boehner said the White House oversight “appears to be motivated by politics” because Gregg has been picked by Obama to take over the Commerce Department.
But Obama officials insist they’re simply returning to the model used under President Clinton.
“I think the historical precedent of this is there’s a director of the census that works for the secretary of commerce, the president and also works closely with the White House to ensure a timely and accurate count,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
The Clinton and Bush administrations had different ways of dealing with the census. The Clinton administration placed a panel of experts at the Census Bureau in charge of adjusting data for people the census missed or double-counted. Clinton officials said it would insulate the decision from political pressure.
The Bush administration changed those regulations before that panel ruled on the 2000 results, leaving it up to the commerce secretary to oversee the bureau’s work.
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