Thomas Brunell — a controversial redistricting researcher who was floated and then withdrawn from consideration to lead the Census Bureau earlier in the Trump administration — has been named to an advisory committee for the census, according to a person familiar with the appointment.
The installation of Brunell — who published a book in 2008 called “Redistricting and Representation: Why Competitive Elections Are Bad for America” — ratifies concerns that the census is being politicized even in the waning days of the Trump administration.
The committee Brunell is being named to, the Census Scientific Advisory Committee, meets once or twice a year usually and gives recommendations for how the Census Bureau should carry out its key functions. Brunell’s term on the committee will last until November 2023.
When word got out Brunell was being considered in 2017 to lead the Bureau, his apparent lack of relevant statistical or government experience drew criticisms from census stakeholders, including the civil rights community.
Brunell’s expertise has been used in Republicans redistricting efforts, according to 2017 Politico story about his name being floated for the director job. He’s also been critical of measures like sampling that the Census Bureau has looked into to improve its enumeration of hard-to-count communities.
Brunell is currently a professor of political science at the University of Texas at Dallas.
The Bureau confirmed Brunell’s appointment in a statement Wednesday that called him a “well-recognized scholar in electoral studies, legislative redistricting, and the usage of census data.”
Additionally, the statement announced that that William Clark, an associate dean at the Pennsylvania State University Graduate School, had been named to the panel.
Can soon-to-be President Biden fire this joker?
No need to fire him. Just disband the committee then create a different advisory committee without the joker.
Just another last second appointment meant to cause dysfunction in the Biden administration. I suspect a lot of effort will be wasted working around these jokers for the next couple of years, and finding ways to push them out of the government. Ironically, Biden may use some Trump tactics to get rid of the worst…Republicans will howl, but they deserve a taste of what Trump did to the government.
This kind of interference will be annoying but not too much trouble, the Biden administration can just choose to ignore nonsense advice. It will be worse if the Republicans and Trump manage to put out some serious land mines, like a military adventure or trade policy, that really hamstrings Biden. We’re less than two months away from being rid of the Trump administration now, and it just can’t come soon enough.
Why the fuck is this allowed? Why should he be treated like a king?:
There is precedent. Lame Duck Bush 41 sent troops to Somalia in Dec. '92. It was a terrible idea, and I thought at the time he did it just to fuck with Clinton.