August 8, 2025 — Former President Donald Trump has called for a rare mid-decade census, directing the Department of Commerce to begin work on what he described as a “highly accurate” count of the U.S. population — one that excludes undocumented immigrants.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the new census should be informed by “modern day facts and figures” and data from the 2024 presidential election. “People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS,” he wrote.
The move comes as both parties gear up for a renewed fight over congressional redistricting, just five years after the 2020 census. Under the U.S. Constitution, the federal government is required to conduct a census every 10 years to apportion the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. However, the Constitution does not prohibit additional counts, and there have been rare mid-decade efforts in the past — though none ordered unilaterally by a president.
Legal experts expect Trump’s census order to face immediate legal challenges, particularly over its exclusion of undocumented immigrants. Most constitutional scholars interpret the Census Clause as requiring the inclusion of all residents — citizens and noncitizens alike.
Trump previously attempted to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, but the initiative was blocked after a series of legal defeats. That census ultimately undercounted populations in several red states — including Florida, Texas, and Arkansas — while overcounting in blue states like New York and Massachusetts, according to post-census reviews.
The 2020 apportionment gave House seat gains to Republican-leaning states such as Florida, Texas, and Montana, while Democratic strongholds like California, New York, and Illinois lost representation — a shift that benefited the GOP ahead of the 2022 midterms.
With control of the House still tightly contested, Trump and Republican lawmakers are now eyeing additional redistricting opportunities. In Texas, GOP leaders recently moved to redraw the state’s congressional map to potentially add five more Republican-leaning seats ahead of 2026. That effort was temporarily blocked when Texas Democrats left the state to prevent a quorum during a special legislative session.
In response, Democrats in states like California and New York have floated the idea of revisiting their own congressional maps, despite legal obstacles. California’s state constitution currently prohibits mid-decade redistricting, but pressure is mounting for change.
Meanwhile, Republicans are exploring redistricting efforts in other GOP-led states such as Missouri and Indiana — where Vice President JD Vance visited Thursday to rally support.
The battle over political maps — traditionally fought every 10 years — appears to be accelerating into a high-stakes, nationwide fight with control of Congress hanging in the balance.
