Reevaluate every decennial census question and drop intrusive ones

Attempted

Printed page 681 21. Department of Commerce

“Reevaluate all decennial census questions. Determine how best to optimize use of the decennial census to determine whether current or additional questions provide added value in coordination with other departments that utilize the information. Overly intrusive questions or less crucial data should either be moved to another survey or removed from Census programs entirely.”

What has happened

Sep 10, 2026 Attempted
A first step on the question set, taken as a rule. The Census Bureau proposed a new part of the Code of Federal Regulations setting "restrictions on the inclusion of certain demographic questions" on the short form and any other enumeration questionnaire (RIN 0607-AA75, 91 FR 57524). The Bureau says it is "re-evaluating the proper role of these demographic questions", on response burden, disclosure risk and sensitivity, which is the Quote's own test. As proposed, 15 CFR 70.2 would bar questions about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation; keep biological sex, date of birth and household relationship "for the sake of facilitating data verification"; and make a response to any other demographic question voluntary. That is the Quote's second remedy, removal, for two questions the 2020 form asked. For the first remedy, the text moves no question to another survey by name. Proposed 70.4 keeps the American Community Survey and other surveys free to ask demographic questions, and the preamble looks to administrative records to fill the gaps. `attempted` and not more: it is a proposal, with comments due 2026-10-13; it reaches one class of question, not every question; and nothing has yet been dropped.
- Census Bureau proposed rule: Decennial Census of the Population of Americans; Proposed Residence Criteria and Proposed Regulations for Demographic Questions (91 FR 57524)
  Primary Executive branch Sep 10, 2026
Aug 31, 2026 Not started
Nothing found. No decennial census question was reevaluated, moved to another survey or removed. The 2030 questionnaire content is not settled until the subjects report to Congress falls due in April 2027, and nothing in the window starts the reevaluation the Quote asks for.
- Census Bureau OMB submission: 2026 Operational Test in Support of the 2030 Census
  Primary Executive branch Feb 3, 2026

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

Cluster negative search CENSUS-1 (chapter log): a jq pass over all 83 in-window Federal Register records whose agency is the Census Bureau — every information-collection notice, every deregulatory rule and every 2030 Census operational notice — plus the DOC/CENSUS slice of reginfo.gov’s Unified Agenda (seven RINs: boundary-date, seal, population-estimate-challenge, decennial-release, personal-data and fee housekeeping), plus grep -i census over nominations.ndjson (0 records) and over presidential-actions.ndjson (0). Also the 2026 Operational Test notice read in full at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-02-03/html/2026-02206.htm: it clears forms D6-QE-ISR and D6-QE-IFE for 154,600 respondents in Spartanburg, South Carolina and Huntsville, Alabama and describes an ACS Methods Panel test; it drops no question and reevaluates none.

The three questionnaire asks on this page (#1891 decennial, #1892 ACS, #1893 Economic Census) share one negative search and are leveled together; each carries its own object and its own note.

The 2026-09-10 proposed rule’s operative text — closed in review 2026-09-11. The review read the full text on federalregister.gov. (1) Proposed §70.2(a) keeps race, ethnicity and sexual orientation off the form (sexual orientation was not on the 2020 form). §70.2(b) permits biological sex, date of birth and household relationship, and §70.2(c) makes every other demographic question voluntary. §70.2(d) exempts questions that go to the residence criteria, which in the companion Part 60 turn on citizenship and lawful permanent residence (see #1889). (2) The text only excludes and makes voluntary. It moves nothing to another survey by name, though §70.4 and the preamble point to the ACS and to administrative records as where the data would come from. (3) It does not reach the ACS. §70.4 says so in terms: nothing in the part restricts “the Census Bureau’s ability to ask demographic questions on the American Community Survey or any other surveys that are not used for the enumeration of the population”. #1892 does not move. The same document carries #1890 (race and ethnicity) at attempted and a new event on #1889 (citizenship). Each note says what it does to its own Quote.

Action: eliminate
Object: decennial census questions
ID: 1891