Wilbur L. Ross Jr.

Caleb Antram of Somerset fills out a census form on-line outside of the Somerset Courthouse during the Somerset County commissioners census day party on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. (Todd Berkey/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)

Experts worry about errors if census schedule is sped up

Jul. 28, 2020 9:50 PM EDT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — After asking for coronavirus-related deadline extensions in April, the Trump administration now appears to be abandoning that request by asking Congress for extra funding to wrap up the 2020 census “as quickly, and safely as possible" in a move that could help ensure the...

FILE - In this June 25, 2020, file photo, two young children hold signs through the car window that make reference to the 2020 U.S. Census as they wait in the car with their family at an outreach event in Dallas. Thousands of census takers are about to begin the most labor-intensive part of America’s once-a-decade headcount (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

California, Florida, Texas lose House seats with Trump order

Jul. 25, 2020 5:40 PM EDT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — If President Donald Trump succeeds in getting immigrants in the country illegally excluded from being counted in the redrawing of U.S. House districts, California, Florida and Texas would end up with one less congressional seat each than if every resident were counted, according to an...

FILE - Protesters hold banners on the steps of the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre in a Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020 file photo.Iowa, South Carolina and South Dakota recently joined Nebraska in agreeing to share driver's license information with the U.S. Census Bureau to help the Trump administration with the controversial task of figuring out the citizenship status of every U.S. resident. (AP Photo/Stephen Groves)

Court challenge ahead for Trump's district drawing order

Jul. 22, 2020 4:57 PM EDT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Civil rights groups on Wednesday gave notice in court of their intent to squelch an effort by President Donald Trump to bar people in the U.S. illegally from being included in the head count when congressional districts are redrawn. Civil rights groups already challenging an order...

FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2017, file photo, residents line up at a security checkpoint into the Hotan Bazaar where a screen shows Chinese President Xi Jinping in Hotan in western China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. government has imposed trade sanctions on 11 companies it says are implicated in human rights abuses in China’s Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

US sanctions Chinese companies over Muslim abuse complaints

Jul. 21, 2020 10:51 PM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — China said Tuesday it would take unspecified “necessary measures" after the U.S. government imposed trade sanctions on 11 companies it says are implicated in human rights abuses in China’s Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang. The sanctions add to U.S. pressure on Beijing...

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 10, 2020, file photo, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill, in Washington. A department spokesperson said Saturday, July 18, 2020, that Ross has been hospitalized for “minor, non-coronavirus related issues.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross hospitalized, 'minor' issues

Jul. 18, 2020 10:49 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was hospitalized for “minor, non-coronavirus related issues,” a department spokesperson said Saturday. Ross, 82, is “doing well” and is expected to be released from the hospital soon, the spokesperson said in a statement. The...

3 more states share license data for citizenship efforts

Jul. 16, 2020 3:32 PM EDT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Iowa, South Carolina and South Dakota have now joined Nebraska in agreeing to share state driver's license information with the U.S. Census Bureau to help the Trump administration to determine the citizenship status of every U.S. resident. Until recently, Nebraska had been the sole...

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2019, file photo an iPhone displays the apps for Facebook and Messenger in New Orleans. The European Union’s top court ruled Thursday, July 16, 2020 that an agreement that allows big tech companies to transfer data to the United States is invalid, and that national regulators need to take tougher action to protect the privacy of users' data. It will no longer simply be assumed that tech companies like Facebook will adequately protect the privacy of its European users' data when it sends it to the U.S. Rather, the EU and U.S. will likely have to find a new agreement that guarantees that Europeans' data is afforded the same privacy protection in the U.S. as it is in the EU, which has some of the toughest standards in the world. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

EU court cancels US data-sharing pact over snooping concerns

Jul. 16, 2020 8:27 AM EDT

The European Union’s top court ruled Thursday that an agreement that allows thousands of companies — from tech giants to small financial firms — to transfer data to the United States is invalid because the American government can snoop on people's data. The ruling to invalidate Privacy Shield...

FILE - In this June 26, 2020, file photo, Ivanka Trump speaks during a meeting with the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, in the East Room of the White House, in Washington. A new White House-backed ad campaign aims to encourage people who are unemployed or unhappy in their jobs or careers to “find something new.” (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

White House-backed campaign pushes alternate career paths

Jul. 14, 2020 5:58 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential adviser Ivanka Trump on Tuesday unveiled a White House-backed national ad campaign highlighting alternative ways to start a career, an initiative targeting students, mid-career workers and the millions of people who are now unemployed because of the coronavirus. Called...

FILE - this April 5, 2020 file photo, shows An envelope containing a 2020 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident in Detroit. A federal judge on Thursday, May 21, 2020, agreed to impose financial sanctions against the Trump administration for failing to produce hundreds of documents during litigation over whether a citizenship question could be added to the 2020 census. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Citing politics, Democrats wants Census appointees removed

Jul. 13, 2020 5:00 PM EDT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Saying they represented the latest effort by the Trump administration to politicize the 2020 census, House Democrats on Monday asked U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to withdraw two appointees from top positions at the U.S. Census Bureau. Democrats on the Committee on Oversight and...

FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump holds a chart as he talks with reporters after receiving a briefing on Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Political pressure from the White House and a series of “crazy in the middle of the night” texts, emails and phone calls caused top federal weather officials to wrongly admonish a weather office for a tweet that contradicted President Trump about Hurricane Dorian in 2019, an inspector general report issued Thursday, July 9, 2020, found. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci. File)

Watchdog details storm of political pressure in Sharpiegate

Jul. 9, 2020 9:21 PM EDT

Political pressure from the White House and a series of “crazy in the middle of the night” texts, emails and phone calls caused top federal weather officials to wrongly admonish a weather office for a tweet that contradicted President Donald Trump about Hurricane Dorian in 2019, an inspector general...

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