Census Bureau director who emphasized inclusivity to resign

U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos has announced he is resigning midway through his five-year term. 

Santos, the first person of color to lead the bureau, was appointed by former President Biden. A Mexican American who has identified as mestizo for the census, Santos was born and raised in San Antonio.  

In a letter on Thursday, Santos said his decision to step down comes “after deep reflection,” according to The Associated Press. 

“It’s been such an honor to serve our nation,” Santos wrote on LinkedIn.

Throughout his term, Santos became known for emphasizing inclusivity and a need to restore public trust in the Census Bureau.

In 2019, Santos co-wrote a report for the Urban Institute warning that the previous year's national count may have greatly undercounted Black and Latino people. Then, during his confirmation hearing, Santos told lawmakers that the bureau needed "more transparency and independence to build public trust.”

He was outspoken in his opposition to how the first Trump administration handled the 2020 census, particularly its decisions to end counting early during the COVID-19 pandemic and the attempt to include a question about U.S. citizenship status.

In light of his resignation, some civil rights groups such as the the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights have thanked Santos for his dedication to “ensuring equitable data collection for all communities that accurately reflects historically undercounted groups.”

“As the first person of color to serve as a Senate-confirmed Census Bureau director, Mr. Santos made history — not just through his appointment, but through his leadership in ensuring that every community, regardless of background or geography, was accurately represented in federal data,” the conference said in a statement. 

The group is now calling on President Trump to carefully consider who will be Santos’s successor.

“We urge President Trump to appoint someone who not only meets the statutory requirements in federal law but who will also uphold the bureau’s constitutional mandate and maintain its long-standing commitment to impartiality,” the group said. “The integrity of the U.S. Census Bureau must remain above partisan influence, ensuring that data collection and reporting continue to serve the American people with accuracy, transparency, and fairness.”