The Trump administration released a proposal on Wednesday that would fundamentally alter the methodology of the decennial census, seeking to exclude non-citizens without permanent residency from apportionment counts and eliminate long-standing questions regarding race and ethnicity. The plan, published online September 9, 2026, as first reported by npr.org, aims to reshape congressional districts and federal funding distribution ahead of the 2030 head count.
Under the new framework, individuals without green cards would be removed from key census results used to determine the number of representatives each state holds in Congress. The proposal also calls for ending the collection of data on race and ethnicity, categories that have appeared on the census form since 1790. Additionally, the administration has banned the inclusion of any question regarding sexual orientation.
Census data drives critical government functions, including the drawing of voting district maps, the allocation of Electoral College votes, and the distribution of billions in taxpayer dollars to states and localities. Civil rights advocates have warned that stripping these data points could undermine enforcement of the Voting Rights Act and distort redistricting efforts.
The 14th Amendment mandates that representatives be apportioned among the states based on the number of persons in each state, a provision that has historically included all residents regardless of immigration status. The current proposal challenges this standard by seeking to subtract unauthorized residents and those on nonimmigrant visas from the base count.
Congress retains final authority over the census under the Constitution. The administration is required to submit a report detailing its proposed questions to lawmakers by April 1. This deadline provides legislators an opportunity to review, modify, or reject the White House’s recommendations before the 2030 enumeration begins.
The push to alter census methodology follows President Trump’s August 2025 social media directive calling for a “new” census approach amid ongoing disputes over gerrymandering. During his first term, which ended in 2021, the administration attempted but failed to add a citizenship status question to the 2020 census and did not succeed in subtracting residents without legal status from apportionment figures.
Republican lawmakers have supported similar proposals in recent years. GOP-controlled states, including Missouri, have filed lawsuits seeking to exclude non-citizens from state-level redistricting data. In Missouri, such changes could shift political power away from younger, racially diverse urban centers toward older, whiter rural areas.
The administration has already begun testing elements of this strategy. Earlier this year, officials made last-minute changes to a 2030 census field test, utilizing a form that included a citizenship question. A White House agency official revealed last year that the administration was reconsidering racial and ethnic data standards established during the Joe Biden administration.
If enacted, these changes would represent a significant departure from decades of federal statistical practice. However, the policy remains subject to legislative oversight and potential reversal by a future presidential administration taking office in 2029. The April 1 reporting deadline marks the next critical juncture in determining whether the 2030 census will reflect the White House’s proposed restrictions or maintain traditional inclusive counting methods.