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Census Bureau troubles continue
Is the census heading for a crisis?The director resigns just as the $1.5 billion agency heads into its biggest test. Next in command may be a weather forecaster.
By DANNY VINIK 05/13/17 07:20 AM EDT
The FBI wasn’t the only agency that lost its boss on Tuesday: John Thompson, director of the Census Bureau, abruptly announced he was resigning at the end of June. His surprise exit leaves the bureau not only without a leader in the middle of the run-up to the 2020 census, but also without a permanent deputy director to step in for him—and no direct supervisor in place at the Department of Commerce, the agency that oversees the Bureau and its massive once-a-decade national survey.
The triple gap in leadership, along with a funding shortfall that has already forced the cancellation of multiple field tests, leaves observers worried about an impending crisis in the biggest civic project that Washington regularly undertakes—a population count that has profound effects on American business and politics.
Thompson’s departure comes after a rocky week in which he was grilled by legislators at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing and had to explain why a new electronic system was nearly 50 percent over budget. And it leaves the agency without a head at a crucial moment in its 10-year cycle, with 10,000 employees ramping up for a dry-run test of their capacity to run the 2020 census. Lawmakers had tried to ensure that the census wouldn’t face a leadership gap during this specific period—something all but certain to happen after Thompson steps down on June 30. The Trump Administration hasn't forwarded a nominee to replace him. . . .
By DANNY VINIK 05/13/17 07:20 AM EDT
The FBI wasn’t the only agency that lost its boss on Tuesday: John Thompson, director of the Census Bureau, abruptly announced he was resigning at the end of June. His surprise exit leaves the bureau not only without a leader in the middle of the run-up to the 2020 census, but also without a permanent deputy director to step in for him—and no direct supervisor in place at the Department of Commerce, the agency that oversees the Bureau and its massive once-a-decade national survey.
The triple gap in leadership, along with a funding shortfall that has already forced the cancellation of multiple field tests, leaves observers worried about an impending crisis in the biggest civic project that Washington regularly undertakes—a population count that has profound effects on American business and politics.
Thompson’s departure comes after a rocky week in which he was grilled by legislators at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing and had to explain why a new electronic system was nearly 50 percent over budget. And it leaves the agency without a head at a crucial moment in its 10-year cycle, with 10,000 employees ramping up for a dry-run test of their capacity to run the 2020 census. Lawmakers had tried to ensure that the census wouldn’t face a leadership gap during this specific period—something all but certain to happen after Thompson steps down on June 30. The Trump Administration hasn't forwarded a nominee to replace him. . . .
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/05/13/head-of-census-bureau-resigns-2020-problems-000441
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