# How a Census Question Is Added or Removed [[How the Census Is Actually Counted]] maps everything that happens to a form once it exists, and says in its own first block that what goes **on** the form is a separate track. This is that track: how a question gets onto the decennial census questionnaire, how it comes off, and who — if anyone — can stop either. The organizing fact is the one the phrase "runs through Congress" conceals. Congress is written into this process twice, at 13 U.S.C. § 141(f)(1) and § 141(f)(2), and both times the verb is *report*. The Secretary of Commerce submits a document containing a determination already made. There is no approval, no waiting period, no objection procedure and no remedy. **The only body on this map that can actually refuse a census question is OMB**, under the [[Paperwork Reduction Act]] — an executive office in the same chain of command as the Secretary who proposed it. And in September 2026 the administration opened a fourth route that runs around even that, by proposing to fix the content of the 2030 form in the *Code of Federal Regulations*. The cluster this belongs to is routed from [[Census]]. Time-slice: statute, standards and dockets as of **September 25, 2026**, with the comment period on the pending rule still open. > [!note] How to read this chart > `──▶` = the main path · `└─▶` = a branch or bypass · `◇` = a decision point · `★` = a genuine control point, where an outcome is actually determined · `⚠` = a duty with no deadline, standard or remedy attached · `✕` = a route closed or a defect the record identifies · `⧉` = live as of the build date. Everything inside the fence is plain text; wikilinks live in the prose, Notes and See also. No officeholders are named in the chart — the seats that matter are in the dated table below it, per the convention used across this map series. ``` HOW A CENSUS QUESTION IS ADDED OR REMOVED — FOUR ROUTES ONTO THE FORM │ Legend: ──▶ main path · └─▶ branch or bypass · ◇ decision · ★ real control point │ ⚠ no deadline, standard or remedy · ✕ closed or defective · ⧉ live │ Time-slice: Sept 25, 2026 · 2030 census date = April 1, 2030 │ ■ 0. THE FRAME — ONE OFFICER DECIDES. EVERYONE ELSE IS NOTIFIED. │ 13 U.S.C. § 141(a): the Secretary shall take the census "in such form and content │ as he may determine." Title 13 requires no particular question. Not one. │ ├─ ★ WHAT FOLLOWS IS NOT A PERMISSION CHAIN. Congress receives reports. The │ │ public receives comment periods. Only OMB can refuse — and OMB is an │ │ executive office under the same President as the Secretary who proposed it. │ ├─ ★ THE ASYMMETRY — adding a question requires a justification; REMOVING one │ │ requires nothing repealed, because no statute put it there. Race has been │ │ asked since 1790 on the authority of that delegated discretion, not a command. │ └─ ◆ NOT ON THIS MAP — how the answers are collected, and what is published │ afterward. Those are the enumeration flow and the data-products tree. │ ├─◆ 1. ORIGIN — five places a proposed question comes from │ ├─ statutory or program need ..... another agency's mandate requires the data │ ├─ OMB government-wide standard .. race and ethnicity wording arrives from outside │ ├─ Bureau research ............... undercount or quality evidence from the last cycle │ ├─ ✕ STAKEHOLDER DEMAND — THIS CHANNEL IS GONE. The Census Scientific Advisory │ │ Committee, the National Advisory Committee and the 2030 Census Advisory │ │ Committee were terminated together by 90 FR 24383 (June 10, 2025). All three │ │ were discretionary FACA committees, so closing them took a determination │ │ and a notice — no statute, no comment period, no successor body. │ └─ ⧉ ADMINISTRATION POLICY — the 2018 and 2026 additions both entered here. It is │ the only origin with no evidentiary threshold to clear at the door. │ ├─◆ 2. RESEARCH AND FIELD TESTING — evidence, and what it is not allowed to decide │ ├─ content tests · ACS methods panel · the mid-decade census test │ ├─ ⧉ THE 2026 CENSUS TEST — Huntsville, Ala. and Spartanburg, S.C. only; about │ │ 154,600 households; online response only; May 1 – Aug 31, 2026. The design │ │ was cut from six sites to two, and every dropped site served a hard-to-count │ │ population. │ ├─ ★ THE TEST INSTRUMENT WAS THE ACS QUESTIONNAIRE, NOT A DECENNIAL FORM. It runs │ │ about forty minutes and it asks CITIZENSHIP, which the ACS has asked since │ │ 2005. So a citizenship question was fielded in a decennial test without any │ │ decision ever being taken to put one on the 2030 form — and the test result │ │ will nonetheless be available as evidence that one can be. │ └─ ⚠ TESTING IS NOT A GATE. Nothing requires a question to be tested before it is │ asked, and nothing requires a tested question to be adopted or dropped. │ The 2018 citizenship question was added with no field test at all. │ ├─◆ 3. ROUTE A — PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT CLEARANCE ★ the ordinary route │ │ 44 U.S.C. ch. 35. Any federal collection of information from ten or more │ │ persons needs an OMB control number. The census is such a collection. │ ├─ 60-day Federal Register notice ──▶ comment on the proposed collection │ ├─ 30-day Federal Register notice ──▶ package submitted to OMB │ ├─ ◇ OIRA decides ──approve──▶ control number issued, 3-year maximum term │ │ └─refuse──▶ the collection may not be conducted │ ├─ ★ THIS IS THE ONLY VETO ANYWHERE ON THE MAP. It is also the softest one │ │ available: the reviewer is the President's own regulatory office, the │ │ governing standard is the collection's "practical utility," and the │ │ comment record is received rather than answered. │ └─ ⚠ COMMENT IS NOT CONSENT — a multistate comment letter led by California │ opposed the 2026 test instrument on March 5, 2026. The test fielded as │ proposed roughly eight weeks later. │ ├─◆ 4. ROUTE B — THE OMB STANDARDS OVERLAY, SPD 15 — wording the Bureau does not own │ │ Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 sets the race and ethnicity categories │ │ for EVERY federal collection. The Bureau implements; it does not choose. │ ├─ 2024 revision issued March 28, 2024, announced in the Federal Register the │ │ next day ──▶ a single COMBINED race-and-ethnicity question, and SEVEN │ │ minimum categories, adding "Middle Eastern or North African" for the │ │ first time in the standard's history. │ ├─ ⧉ IMPLEMENTATION IS SLIPPING — an OMB bulletin of March 27, 2026 pushed the │ │ agency Action Plan deadline out a further year, to March 28, 2027, while │ │ "otherwise making no additional changes to the deadlines for implementing │ │ the standards." Second extension; the plans are now three years behind. │ └─ ★ A DIRECTIVE IS NOT A STATUTE. SPD 15 is an OMB memorandum administered by a │ Chief Statistician who is not Senate-confirmed and holds no fixed term. │ What a directive standardises, a directive can unstandardise — and the │ rule at block 7 proposes to delete the question the directive governs. │ ├─◆ 5. THE § 141(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS — notified twice, consulted never │ ├─ (f)(1) SUBJECTS ..... not later than 3 years before census day │ 2030: Apr 1, 2027 │ ├─ (f)(2) QUESTIONS .... not later than 2 years before census day │ 2030: Apr 1, 2028 │ ├─ ★ READ THE NOUN. Each is "a report containing the Secretary's determination." │ │ The determination is already made when the report arrives. There is no │ │ approval, no waiting period, no objection procedure and no remedy. │ └─ ⚠ SAME DRAFTING SHAPE AS § 141(b) AND (c): a fixed date with no enforcement │ clause. The 2020 cycle blew both of those delivery deadlines by months — │ apportionment 116 days late, redistricting data about 4.4 months late — │ and nothing whatever followed. │ ├─◆ 6. ROUTE C — § 141(f)(3), THE MODIFICATION PROVISION ⚠ the 2018 route │ │ "after submission of a report under paragraph (1) or (2) ... and before the │ │ appropriate census date, if the Secretary finds new circumstances exist │ │ which necessitate that the subjects, types of information, or questions │ │ contained in reports so submitted be modified..." │ ├─ ◇ who finds that new circumstances exist? ──▶ the Secretary │ ├─ ◇ against what standard? ──▶ none is stated │ ├─ ◇ how late may it be done? ──▶ any time before census day │ └─ ★ THE ESCAPE HATCH SWALLOWS THE SCHEDULE, AND IT IS IN THE SAME SUBSECTION │ AS THE SCHEDULE. The deadlines at blocks 5 bind only the FIRST answer; │ (f)(3) lets the Secretary give a different one at any point in the three │ years that follow, on a finding no one else gets to review in advance. │ ├─◆ 7. ROUTE D — RULEMAKING ⧉ NEW IN 2026. NO CENSUS CONTENT HAS EVER TRAVELLED IT. │ │ "Decennial Census of the Population of Americans; Proposed Residence │ │ Criteria and Proposed Regulations for Demographic Questions" │ │ 91 FR 57524 · Sept 10, 2026 · RIN 0607-AA75 · Docket 260903-0005 │ │ Authority: 13 U.S.C. §§ 4, 5 and 141. Comments close Oct 13, 2026. │ │ Would create 15 CFR Part 60 (residence) and 15 CFR Part 70 (questions). │ ├─ § 70.2(a) would BAR race, ethnicity and sexual-orientation questions from the │ │ short form; § 70.4 keeps race and ethnicity on the ACS; § 70.2(c) makes │ │ every demographic question except sex, date of birth and household │ │ relationship VOLUNTARY. │ ├─ ◇ does it add a citizenship question? ──▶ NO. It says the Bureau "could" │ │ include a legal-status question and invites comment on doing so. Much of │ │ the reporting ran ahead of the text on this point. │ ├─ ★ A RULE IS DIFFERENT IN BOTH DIRECTIONS AT ONCE. More exposed: notice and │ │ comment, an APA record, judicial review on that record. More durable: it │ │ binds the Bureau from OUTSIDE and survives until another rulemaking │ │ repeals it — a successor Secretary cannot simply decide otherwise. │ └─ ★ AND IT CURES THE 2018 DEFECT ON PURPOSE. Pretext is a failure of │ EXPLANATION. Notice-and-comment rulemaking is a machine for manufacturing │ explanations: a stated rationale in a preamble, a comment record, and a │ reasoned response to objections. The 2018 question did not lose because │ it was forbidden. It lost because the file did not match the story. │ ├─◆ 8. THE JUDICIAL BACKSTOP — narrower than it is remembered as being │ │ Department of Commerce v. New York, 588 U.S. 752, decided June 27, 2019 │ ├─ ✓ the decision IS reviewable under the APA — not committed to agency discretion │ ├─ ✓ the Enumeration Clause and the Census Act DO permit asking about citizenship │ ├─ ✓ the decision was NOT arbitrary and capricious on the administrative record │ ├─ ✕ but the stated reason — Voting Rights Act enforcement — was found contrived, │ │ so the explanation could not be accepted and the matter went back to the agency │ └─ ★ NOTHING WAS HELD UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The question lost on the quality of its │ paperwork, and the route stayed open. Route D is an attempt to file │ better paperwork. │ └─◆ 9. ⧉ THE 2030 CLOCK AS IT STANDS TODAY ├─ Oct 13, 2026 ..... comments close on 91 FR 57524 ├─ 2026 – 2027 ...... final rule, if issued, and the litigation that follows it ├─ Apr 1, 2027 ...... § 141(f)(1) subjects report due to Congress ├─ Apr 1, 2028 ...... § 141(f)(2) questions report due to Congress ├─ 2028 ............. the 2030 dress rehearsal ├─ Apr 1, 2030 ...... census day — and the last day § 141(f)(3) may be used └─ ⚠ THE SEAT THAT SIGNS ALL OF IT IS EMPTY. There has been no Senate-confirmed Director of the Census Bureau since February 2025; the duties are performed by a Commerce deputy under secretary from outside the Bureau, and the current statutory five-year term expires on Dec 31, 2026. └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ``` ## The seats, as verified on September 25, 2026 | Seat | Holder | Status | Role in this process | |---|---|---|---| | Secretary of Commerce | Howard Lutnick | Senate-confirmed, since Feb 2025 | Holds the § 141(a) content discretion; signed the Sept 2026 proposed rule | | Director, Census Bureau | — | **Vacant since Feb 2025**; term expires Dec 31, 2026 | The only officer Title 13 creates | | Performing the duties of the Director | George M. Cook | Commerce Deputy Under Secretary, not a Bureau official | Runs the 2026 test and the 2030 design in the Director's absence | | Chief Statistician of the United States | Stuart Levenbach | Since Jan 2026; not Senate-confirmed, no fixed term | Administers SPD 15 and SPD 1 | | Administrator, OIRA | Mark Paoletta | OMB General Counsel, performing the delegated duties | Signs off on the PRA clearance at block 3 | ## Notes - **The queue premise held and then inverted.** This track does run through Congress twice and the courts once, exactly as expected — but the two congressional appearances are notifications, not gates, and the judicial appearance did not close the route. What the record actually shows is a process with **one** real veto point, at OMB, and a 2026 attempt to route around even that by regulation. - **Removal is structurally easier than addition, and that is the whole point of the 2026 rule.** The race and ethnicity question's legal foundation is not Title 13 — it is [[Statistical Policy Directive No. 15]] plus the downstream data needs of the Voting Rights Act and a long list of federal programs. Because no statute commands the question, § 70.2(a) of the proposed rule can bar it without repealing anything. This is the mirror image of the finding on [[Census Data Products Tree]]: an undeadlined product is cancellable, and an uncommanded question is deletable. - **The rulemaking route is genuinely new and cuts both ways.** Content has never before been set by regulation — the 2018 question travelled § 141(f)(3), and the 2020 apportionment-exclusion attempt travelled a presidential memorandum. A rule is harder to issue and harder to undo. It also supplies precisely the thing *Department of Commerce v. New York* found missing in 2018: a contemporaneous, stated, comment-tested rationale. Reading that case as having settled the citizenship question mistakes a procedural loss for a substantive one. Full treatment of the rule's contents is on [[2030 Census Residence Rule]]; this map places it among the alternatives rather than re-litigating it. - **The advisory-committee origin channel was closed before the content fight began.** The termination of the three census advisory committees in June 2025 removed the one structured route by which outside expertise reached content decisions on the record. The former Census Scientific Advisory Committee members reconstituted privately, without a charter or access. Whatever the merits, the sequence matters: the consultative body was dissolved fifteen months before the rule that changes what the form asks. - **A citizenship question was fielded in 2026 without a decision to field one.** Substituting the [[American Community Survey]] instrument for a decennial questionnaire in the 2026 Census Test put citizenship in front of about 154,600 households in a *decennial* test. The ACS has asked it since 2005 and that has never been the contested question. What the test does is generate operational evidence about asking it on a decennial form, without anyone having decided to ask it on one. See [[Census Citizenship Question]]. - **Two things on this page are deliberately left open.** First, whether the proposed rule will be finalised, in what form, and on what timetable relative to the April 2027 subjects report — no date has been published and none is guessed here. Second, what the rule's § 70.4 carve-out actually preserves in practice: keeping race and ethnicity on the ACS preserves the *questions* but not the decennial-scale counts that small-area and tribal data depend on, and the Bureau's proposal does not quantify the gap. Neither is marked resolved. - **Verification note.** Section 141(f) was read in full at uscode.house.gov on the build date rather than taken from a secondary source. The proposed rule's identifiers, authority and comment deadline come from the *Federal Register* document itself; the 2026 Census Test figures and content from the Census Bureau's own press releases; the SPD 15 dates and the extension quotation from OMB's own spd15revision.gov; the citizenship-question test proposal from NPR (Feb 5, 2026) and the September 2026 proposal coverage from NPR (Sept 9, 2026) and The Census Project (Sept 14, 2026). All five seats in the table above were confirmed against two sources each on September 25, 2026. ## See also - [[How the Census Is Actually Counted]] — the other side of the same boundary: what happens once the form exists - [[2030 Census Residence Rule]] — the September 2026 proposed rule in full, block by block - [[Census]] — the routing hub for this cluster - [[Census Citizenship Question]] · [[Census Undercount]] · [[American Community Survey]] - [[Paperwork Reduction Act]] · [[Statistical Policy Directive No. 15]] · [[Statistical Policy Directive No. 1]] - [[Department of Commerce v. New York]] · [[Administrative Procedure Act]] · [[Title 13]] - [[Census Bureau]] · [[Census Bureau Org Chart]] · [[Census Data Products Tree]] · [[Census Data Access Crosswalk]] - [[Federal Statistical System Tree]] · [[Office of Management and Budget]] · [[Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs]] - [[Howard Lutnick]] · [[George M. Cook]] · [[Stuart Levenbach]] · [[Mark Paoletta]] · [[Chief Statistician of the United States]] - [[How the Census Apportions Congress]] · [[2030 Census]] · [[Foundations Hub]]