The acting Census Bureau director brought in outside think-tank staff to write the report on noncitizen voting in the 2020 election.
Posted by Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 50%
Platypus Economics with Justin WolfersAug 28, 2026
Multiple sources (NPR, Wired, Bloomberg, Justin Fox) support that staff from the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank, worked on or were detailed to the Census report, and that political appointees were involved. None of the sources says the acting Census Bureau director brought them in, so that specific attribution, which is the claim's point, is not addressed.
What was said
… Might be the same as me, might be different. Doesn't matter to them. What they care about is X prime X inverse X prime Y. They are deeply devoted to statistical truths. So none of them would work on this report, none of them would sign it. But the acting Census Bureau director just brought in outside think-tank hacks to write this nonsense, and my guess is the career staff stayed back. I was surprised I didn't actually receive any calls from career staff, but they left plenty of clues that this was not business as usual. That's why there was no author, there was no reviewer. Normally when you release a report, it's part of a report series. …
Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. NPR and Wired report that the report's team included America First Policy Institute affiliates, and Wired says they were detailed to the Census Bureau.[1][3][4]
Supports. Bloomberg and Justin Fox report the report was produced outside regular Census channels by political appointees and staffers at a think tank with close ties to Trump.[2][5]
Context. None of the sources names the acting Census Bureau director or says who brought the think-tank staff in, so the claim's attribution to that official is not confirmed or refuted.[1][2][3][4]
Context. The claim's wording tracks the claimant's post, which said the acting director brought in outside think-tank staff. The post is the claimant's own words and is not evidence.
Sources
5 sources: 2 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1A Census Bureau report on noncitizen voting has ties to a Trump-aligned think tanknpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
- 2Noncitizens Don't Sway Elections, Even in a Pro-Trump Tallybloomberg.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
- 3The Census Bureau Is Overrun With Staffers From a MAGA ...wired.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 4Experts raise alarms over Census Bureau report Trump is touting on noncitizen votingtpr.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5Justin Fox: Noncitizens don't sway elections, even in a pro-Trump tallynewsobserver.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Census Bureau paper regarding non-citizen voting in the 2020 election was produced by political operatives at an outside think tank.True
- The Census Bureau report on noncitizen voting in the 2020 election lacked an author and a reviewer.True
- The Census Bureau released a report claiming that 24,000 noncitizens voted in the 2020 election.True
- The U.S. Census Bureau released a paper this week claiming that at least 24,000 non-citizens voted in the 2020 election.True
- The Census Bureau report on noncitizen voting in 2020 alleged 1,100 fraudulent votes in Arizona.True