An envelope sent from the U.S. Census Bureau contains information about the 2020 national head count. The Trump administration is reviewing the racial and ethnic categories approved for the 2030 census and other future federal surveys.
Matt Rourke/AP
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Matt Rourke/AP
A Trump administration official recently hinted at a potential rollback of the approved racial and ethnic categories for the 2030 census and other federal government forms.
Concerns have been raised by supporters of these categories about the impact any changes could have on the accuracy of census data and other statistics used for redistricting, civil rights enforcement, and policymaking.
These standards were last updated in 2024 during the Biden administration, following Census Bureau research and public input.
Changes included new checkboxes for “Middle Eastern or North African” and “Hispanic or Latino” on a reformatted question about race and ethnicity, as well as a requirement to stop automatically categorizing Middle Eastern or North African individuals as white.
However, at a recent meeting in Washington, D.C., the chief statistician at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget disclosed that the Trump administration is reviewing these standards and the approval process for the 2024 revisions.
Further discussions are ongoing within the administration, and no final decisions have been made yet.
The OMB’s press office did not respond immediately to NPR’s request for comment.
These developments come amidst the administration’s actions against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, as well as efforts to limit data collection that could protect the rights of marginalized groups.
In a recent announcement, OMB stated that the Biden-era revisions to the standards remain in effect, with a deadline extension for federal agencies to comply with the new guidelines on collecting data about race and ethnicity.
The delay in implementation allows for a thorough review of the changes.
During the previous Trump administration, the process of revising racial and ethnic data standards for the 2020 census was delayed.
A policy agenda known as “Project 2025” by The Heritage Foundation called for a review of census questions related to race and ethnicity to address concerns about data accuracy.
Advocates of the changes view the new categories as necessary updates to better represent the country’s diverse population.
Meeta Anand, senior director of census and data equity at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, emphasized the importance of accurately capturing the communities that make up the nation.
Edited by Benjamin Swasey
