Census director quits amid criticism that delayed count was politicized

WASHINGTON — Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham announced his resignation Monday amid criticism of his handling of the decennial census and allegations he allowed the count to be politicized.

Dillingham made the announcement in a statement that thanked the bureau’s staff for their work conducting the count amid a global pandemic. For the first time, the agency missed its Dec. 31 statutory deadline to deliver a count of the nation’s population. The delay was caused by disruptions from the global pandemic as well as decisions from the Trump administration.

“None of us could anticipate that as we fully launched the 2020 Census, a global health crisis would upend a schedule and plans which had been carefully constructed over a decade,” Dillingham’s statement said.

Dillingham’s statement said the retirement would become effective Wednesday. A spokesman from the agency said Ron Jarmin, the agency’s deputy director, will then become acting director.

Civil rights groups and Democrats in Congress called on Dillingham to resign in the past week following reports he prioritized work on identifying immigrants in census records for President Donald Trump over finishing work on the decennial count.

The agency still has not finished tabulating the results of the count, and the Justice Department has said it will take until at least March to finish.

Dillingham’s departure came after a Commerce Department Office of Inspector General report highlighted whistleblower concerns that he made work on identifying immigrants a “number one priority” in the closing days of the administration.

Dillingham later said he had told staff to stop working on that project in response to the report, but the damage had already been done. Civil rights groups that the agency viewed as key stakeholders in the effort called for him to resign.