Several Republicans have been saying that President Obama's moving the census to the White House is "unconstitutional". That got me curious, so I decided to look up what the Constitution actually says about the census. It is covered in Article 1, Section 2:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union...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.
In other words, it isn't speciicied in the Constitution exactly who does the census, only that it be done "in such manner as they (Congress) shall by Law direct." In fact, according to Wikipedia, the first seven U.S. censuses were performed by the Judicial branch.
Bottom Line:
None of this disproves the charge that the move of the census to the White House is politically motivated...it clearly is. But it is interesting to know that the actual responsibility for the census does not necessarily have to reside with the Commerce department. In that, the Obama people are right.
Actually, if you look a bit further into it, you will find that the Constitution states "Congress" is responsible for overseeing the specifics, and as such, congress gave all powers regarding census to the department of commerce, with very little responsibility remaining with them. Unless (or untill) congress changes the laws governing the census, the white house has no place whatsoever in the census.
Posted by: Stormy | June 22, 2009 at 09:35 PM