Politics
Commerce Department removes political interference ban from scientific integrity policy
The unannounced revision alters rules across agency bureaus following a disputed Census Bureau report on noncitizen voting.
The short version
- The U.S. Commerce Department quietly removed language prohibiting political interference and inappropriate influence from its scientific integrity policy in an August 19 revision.
- The policy change affects multiple federal entities, including the Census Bureau, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Bureau of Economic Analysis.
- Data experts and former agency officials warned that the policy change weakens guardrails ensuring impartial federal statistics ahead of the 2030 national head count.
Key facts
- An August 19 revision to the Commerce Department's scientific integrity policy removed explicit bans on altering, suppressing, or delaying statistical analysis and scientific findings for political purposes.[NPR]
- The policy update applies across all Commerce Department entities, including the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.[NPR]
- The change occurred one day after the Census Bureau published an unauthored report concerning noncitizen voting linked to a think tank associated with former Trump administration officials.[NPR]
- Spokespeople for the Commerce Department and the Census Bureau did not respond to requests for comment regarding the policy update.[NPR]
What remains uncertain
- The Commerce Department has not stated its rationale for omitting the anti-interference protections or altering the process for investigating scientific integrity violations.[NPR]