A senior Trump administration official signaled a new review on Friday of the racial and ethnic categories adopted for the 2024 standards that will shape the 2030 census and other federal surveys. Advocates warn any rollback could weaken the accuracy of data used for redistricting, civil-rights enforcement and policymaking.
The Biden-era revisions, approved in 2024 after Census Bureau research and public input, redesigned the race and ethnicity question and added new response options, notably a Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) checkbox and a separate Hispanic or Latino option. The guidance also instructed federal agencies not to automatically classify people who identify as MENA as white.
At a meeting of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics in Washington, D.C., Mark Calabria, the White House Office of Management and Budget chief statistician, said the administration has opened a review of those standards and of the approval process. Calabria said the review is in its early stages and that the administration has heard a wide range of views. OMB’s press office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Calabria publicly confirmed for the first time that Trump officials are considering not using the latest category changes and other 2024 revisions. His remarks come amid broader administration moves affecting diversity, equity and inclusion programs, efforts to limit the collection of certain demographic information (including sexual orientation and gender identity data used to protect transgender rights), and renewed scrutiny of federal statistics.
In September, OMB said the 2024 revisions remained in effect while it granted a six-month extension to the 2029 deadline for federal agencies to adopt the new standards, citing extra time to implement the changes during review.
Conservative policy plans, including documents associated with Project 2025, have pushed for a thorough reassessment of the Biden-era changes, arguing they could be politically biased. The first Trump administration previously delayed revisions intended for the 2020 census.
Supporters of the 2024 updates say they are needed to reflect people’s identities more accurately. Meeta Anand of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said the revisions help provide a deeper, more accurate understanding of the nation’s communities and cautioned against reviews that seek predetermined outcomes rather than an honest examination of the process.