The Trump administration’s nominee to head the 2020 census has withdrawn from consideration, after an outcry by civil rights groups and many Democrats. Thomas Brunell, a University of Texas at Dallas political science professor, is a staunch defender of Republican redistricting efforts, including congressional maps in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and other states that federal courts have recently ruled unconstitutionally favor Republicans. Brunell stepped down from consideration as critics say the Trump administration is hoping to use the 2020 census to lock in Republican majorities for a decade. This is journalist Ari Berman, speaking on Democracy Now! about his Rolling Stone article headlined “How the GOP Rigs Elections.”

Ari Berman: “So, if the census is manipulated for political purposes or the count is done wrong, there is no way to fix that, because the census is supposed to be the final word that determines how districts are drawn, how $600 billion in federal funding is spent. This is one of the most important things the federal government has done, every 10 years since 1790. And it’s facing unprecedented threats from the Trump administration.”