Trump Administration Proposes Drastic Changes to 2026 Census Test

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The Trump administration recently announced significant changes to the 2026 Operational Test for the 2030 Census, including reducing the number of test sites, replacing the decennial short form with the longer American Community Survey questionnaire, and piloting the use of U.S. Postal Service employees instead of trained Census Bureau enumerators. Experts say these changes would compromise the scientific validity of the test and threaten to degrade its utility as a planning tool for the 2030 Census.

Why it matters

The 2026 Operational Test is a critical safeguard to evaluate census operations and identify weaknesses before the constitutionally mandated 2030 Census. The proposed changes could undermine the accuracy and representativeness of the 2030 Census, with lasting consequences for political representation and the distribution of federal resources.

The details

The sweeping changes to the Operational Test include: 1) Reducing the number of test sites from six to two (Huntsville and Spartanburg); 2) Replacing the decennial census short form with the longer American Community Survey questionnaire, with the citizenship question appearing earlier; and 3) Piloting the use of U.S. Postal Service employees instead of trained Census Bureau enumerators. Experts say any one of these changes would compromise the scientific validity of the exercise, and together they threaten to degrade the test's utility as a planning tool.

• The Trump administration recently announced the changes.
• The revised 2026 Operational Test notice shortened the public comment period from 60 to 30 days.

What’s next

The public comment period on the proposed changes to the 2026 Operational Test has been shortened from 60 to 30 days, limiting meaningful public scrutiny of the changes.