The possible inclusion of a citizenship question in the 2020 census has more people talking about the decennial count than usual. But this controversial debate isn't the only issue facing the Census Bureau.
Even though the census is less than a year away, the agency has only conducted one round of tests, in Rhode Island, which experts say is hardly enough preparation. And for the first time, the bureau will offer the option to fill out the census online, but some elected officials are concerned about gaps in digital literacy and accessibility. At the core of all these census challenges is a lack of adequate funding from the federal government.
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund delved into all of these concerns and more through its National Latino Commission on Census 2020. The group, a collection of state and municipal officials, presented its research and findings on how best to address these challenges at the National Press Club on Wednesday.
The commission made several policy recommendations to Congress, the Census Bureau, the White House and the Commerce Department, including the removal of the citizenship question and approval of the $8.5 million needed to fully fund the 2020 count.
If the citizenship question remains, NALEO and many other groups fear some residents, particularly in the Latino community, will be discouraged from participating, leading to a massive population undercount and misappropriation of funds.
"Barring swift intervention, data from the 2020 Census will be inaccurate and incomplete causing national damage," the report states.
Overall, the report says the agency needs to dedicate more resources to outreach and communication, particularly in hard-to-count communities. The commission suggested the Census Bureau partner with community organizations to help share information.
With the agency looking toward a more digital future, the commission underscored the importance of planning for communities with poor Internet access or knowledge. Assistance for those who choose to participate online should be available, the report states. The Census Bureau should also reassure U.S. residents that their private information will be secure, if they opt to fill it out online, the commissioners said.
While the report made several suggestions, the commission did recognize the Census Bureau's difficulty allocating resources due to a lack of funding from the federal government.
James Christy, a representative from the Census Bureau who attended the briefing, reassured the commission and others in attendance that his agency was working hard to ensure a fair and accurate count in 2020. He also noted the Census Bureau's efforts to offer the questionnaire in more languages than in past years.
But Arturo Vargas, CEO of the NALEO Education Fund, responded that while he appreciates these efforts, the census still cannot accommodate the diversity of languages spoken in the United States. For instance, the only Native American language currently offered is Navajo. The online version and the questionnaire assistance documentation will be offered in 12 non-English languages. This leaves out many communities, Vargas said, although other forms of assistance will be available in nearly 60 languages.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.