ORLANDO, Fla. — The Trump administration wants to delay deadlines for the 2020 census because of the coronavirus outbreak, a move that if approved would push back timetables for releasing data used to draw congressional and legislative districts, the chair of the House oversight committee said Monday.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said administration officials were asking that all field operations be postponed until June 1 and that the deadline for wrapping up the nation’s head count be pushed back until Oct. 31.
Field operations for the 2020 census have been suspended since mid-March and were set to resume this week. The deadline for finishing the head count also had been pushed back from the end of July to mid-August because of the pandemic.
Maloney said in a statement that the administration also is seeking to delay the deadline for delivering state population counts used for apportionment — the process of carving up congressional districts — from the end of this year to the end of next April.
The administration also is seeking to push back the deadline for giving states data for redistricting from next March to next July, the statement added.
The Census Bureau confirmed the delays were being sought. It said in a statement that the goal of the delays would be to ensure a complete and accurate count.