Trump backs renewed push to rig the U.S. census by only counting citizens

MSNBC ^ | July 4, 2025 | Ja'han Jones

[MinorityRepublican]

Donald Trump and his allies have the U.S. census in their sights as they continue to pursue their anti-democratic visions for the country.

Touring a controversial new immigrant detention center in Florida on Tuesday, Donald Trump excitedly backed a proposal from far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., that would drastically alter the U.S. electoral map if implemented. Greene said Monday that her proposal, which she said she will introduce in the House, would require the Census Bureau to “immediately” conduct a new census — even though the census takes place every 10 years, with the next one set for 2030.

“In conducting the new census of the U.S. population, it shall require questions determining the citizenship of each individual, and count US citizens only," Greene wrote in a post on X. "Upon completion of the census, the bill will direct states to immediately begin a redistricting of all U.S. House seats process using only the population of United States citizens."

Essentially, it would be an accelerated and further-reaching proposal than the bill House Republicans passed last year, which the Senate — controlled by Democrats at the time — didn't take up.

Speaking on behalf of himself and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was standing beside him, Trump said Tuesday that they “love” the idea. He went on to frame the proposal as a response to his false claim that Democrats rigged the 2020 election by allowing “millions” of unauthorized voters to cast ballots.

DeSantis then accused the Biden administration of rigging apportionment to harm Republicans — an odd claim considering the ways the process seems to have benefited Republicans.

[Eleutheria5]

The census is recon, so they know how many warm bodies they have available, and if insufficient, they’ll have to resurrect a few cold ones from the cemetaries in order to assure the election results they’ll want.

[Bob Wills is still the king]

“OK, the constitution says to count persons but after that it does NOT say that we can’t separate the persons into different categories”
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The government can use the information for any legal purpose, including separation of groups or categories. That doesn’t change the basic fact that the Constitution says it is “persons” to be counted for apportionment, not “citizens.”

[Elsie]

That doesn’t change the basic fact that the Constitution says it is “persons” to be counted for apportionment, not “citizens.”

True, the Constitution does say that, but the 14^th amendment changed that:

Article I  

Section 2 House of Representatives

• Clause 3 Seats

• Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

  • ArtI.S2.C3.1  Enumeration Clause and Apportioning Seats in the House of Representatives

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And then...

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Amdt14.S2.1.1 Apportionment Clause

Fourteenth Amendment, Section 2:

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.