Appropriations Update
On August 8, the U.S. Senate voted 90-6 to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) that would fund the federal government through December 11. The current fiscal year ends on September 30. A CR may be necessary given most of the 12 annual appropriations bills, including the Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill which funds the Census Bureau, have not passed both chambers.
The Senate-passed version of the CR includes language (also known as a modified funding anomaly) granting the Census Bureau flexibility to spend necessary, additional funds in support of 2030 Decennial Census preparations.
Sec. 120. Bureau of the Census—Periodic Censuses and Programs. This section allows amounts made available for the Bureau of the Census to be apportioned at a rate necessary to prepare for the 2030 Decennial Census.
In a recent organizational sign-on letter from The Census Project, stakeholders expressed support for providing the Census Bureau with a funding anomaly to ensure they have sufficient resources during any CR to support essential activities, including 2030 Census operations.
Before adjourning for its August district work period, the U.S. House of Representatives also passed a CR that would fund the federal government through December 4. Their CR, however, did not include any census-specific provisions.
The House and Senate CRs will need to be reconciled when Congress reconvenes in September.
Policy Update
MACS and The Census Project Release ACS Policy Brief
As part of August is ACS Awareness Month, Minnesotans for the American Community Survey (MACS) and The Census Project released a new policy brief, “American Community Survey (ACS): A National Asset at Risk.” The brief summarizes major trends in declining ACS response rates and what threats currently exist that could exacerbate the problem if action is not taken.
Census Stakeholders Share Insights Regarding Disclosure Avoidance Order
In an August 13 Census Project Standard Deviations blog, “How Will Methodology Restrictions Affect Demographic and Economic Data?,” Beth Jarosz (senior fellow Massive Data Institute, Vice President of APDU, and contributor to dataindex.us), Jae June Lee (fellow Census Quality Reinforcement Task Force at NCoC), and Chris Dick (co-founder of dataindex.us) shared insights from an August 2 panel discussion at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Boston, MA. Specifically, the authors summarized remarks that high-ranking Census Bureau officials made regarding the Commerce Department’s recent Disclosure Avoidance Order and their responses to audience questions about the order’s origin, intent, and potential impacts on data granularity and availability.
GAO Makes Recommendations Regarding 2030 Census Preparations
As reported by The Census Project, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report to Commerce Secretary Lutnick regarding 2030 Census preparations. The report, which was made public on July 29, highlighted two areas that “…warrant timely and focused attention: 1) improving planning for the decennial census and 2) protecting personally identifiable information.”
Requests for Public Comments
- In an August 19 blog, The Census Project amplified the Census Bureau’s request for public comments on revisions to the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll and the Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances. Comments are due by October 19, 2026.
- In an August 10 blog, The Census Project shared the Census Bureau’s request for public comments on its plans to conduct a field test of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) in calendar year 2027. The Bureau is accepting comments through October 6, 2026.
Census Bureau Releases
On August 27, the Census Bureau announced new partnerships with institutions in Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Utah, Tennessee and Vermont for its Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) experimental data product.
On August 17, George Cook, Acting Director of the Census Bureau, released a blog, “Understanding the New Disclosure Avoidance Policy: What It Means for Data, Confidentiality and You.”
Business Trends and Survey Outlook (BTSO) Data were released on August 27 and August 13. BTSO is a survey that measures business conditions and projections on an ongoing basis.
New Business Formation Statistics (BFS) were released on August 12.
The rate of individuals under age 65 without health insurance in the United States decreased in 65 counties and increased in 427 counties between 2023 and 2024, according to the Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) released on August 6.
On August 4, the Census Bureau issued its release schedule for the 2025 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance statistics from the Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) and announced a delay in the 2025 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates.
News You Can Use
Below are several articles posted on The Census Project home page in August 2026. For a complete listing, go to: 2026 Media – The Census Project. (News media coverage is not necessarily endorsed or supported by The Census Project but is provided to give census stakeholders a wide spectrum of views and materials.)
The Census Bureau’s Unorthodox Foray Into Voter Roll Investigations
Cato Institute
August 28, 2026
The changes Trump wants to make to the U.S. Census that could shift Congress
MS NOW
August 24, 2026
The octopus grabs hold of the Census Bureau
Count of Counting
August 24, 2026
Census Matters: How Census Shapes Funding for Rural Communities
POGO
August 20, 2026
Big city growth is slowing, reversing a post-pandemic resurgence
Brookings
August 17, 2026
Unexpected Drop in U.S. Retail Sales as Shoppers Feel the Squeeze
The New York Times
August 14, 2026
How much time does AI save at work? New Census Bureau data breaks it down.
CBS News
August 12, 2026
How Do We Track Terminations of Federal Data?
Federation of American Scientists
August 10, 2026
