A Trump appointee has been picked as the acting head of the U.S. Census Bureau

FILE - An envelope containing a 2020 census form mailed to a U.S. resident is seen in Detroit, on April 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

A Trump appointee has been picked to be the acting head of the U.S. Census Bureau, replacing a career economist in the interim job, at a time when the Republican president is calling for a new census that excludes people in the U.S. illegally.

George Cook, who is chief of staff for the economic affairs undersecretary at the Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau, has been performing the duties of bureau director as of this week, according to an email sent Friday to agency employees and shared with The Associated Press.

He is also performing the duties of the undersecretary for economic affairs, according to the email.

“George is eager to see the Census Bureau represent the very best of American operational and technological prowess, remain a pillar of our constitutional system by defending the integrity and accuracy of data, and continue to be a hub for America’s most accomplished economic, demographic, and statistical experts to research, train, grow, and serve,” the email said.

Rob Santos, who was appointed the bureau's director by former Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022, resigned in January following the swearing-in of Donald Trump to a second term. Since Santos' departure, the nation's largest statistical agency has been led on an interim basis by Ron Jarmin, the bureau's deputy director and chief operating officer.

Trump last month instructed the Commerce Department to have the Census Bureau start work on a new census that would exclude immigrants who are in the United States illegally from the head count that determines political power and federal spending.

Experts have said it would be very difficult to conduct a mid-decade census because any changes would require alterations to the Census Act and approval from Congress, which has oversight responsibilities, and there likely would be a fierce fight.

The federal law governing the census permits a mid-decade head count for things like distributing federal funding, but it can’t be used for apportionment or redistricting and must be done in a year ending in 5. Additionally, the 14th Amendment says that “the whole number of persons in each state” are to be counted for the numbers used for apportionment, and the Census Bureau has interpreted that to mean anybody residing in the United States regardless of legal status.

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