(WASHINGTON, D.C.)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, announced that the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Dr. Steven Dillingham, will testify at a hearing on July 24, 2019, on the status of planning and preparations for the 2020 Census.

“It is time for the Census Bureau to move beyond all the outside political agendas and distractions and devote its full attention to preparing for the 2020 Census,” Raskin said.  “This hearing will examine the current status of the Bureau’s readiness for the Census next year—especially in areas where the Bureau may be falling behind such as IT, security and public education.”

Based on testimony from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, the Census Bureau is at risk of missing key milestones, including partnership specialist hiring and the correction of high-risk security vulnerabilities, and lacks a proper system for tracking and implementing crucial security recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security.  Concerns have been raised about the Bureau’s reliance on new technological methods for conducting the count that are undertested and potentially vulnerable to security breaches.

The Supreme Court ruled last week against the Administration’s effort to add a citizenship question.  The Trump Administration informed a federal court yesterday that it will begin printing the census questionnaires without the citizenship question.

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