Trump-aligned think tank staff infiltrate Census Bureau, accessing sensitive data

Wire investigations reveal that the America First Policy Institute has embedded a team of almost entirely its own members within the U.S. Census Bureau via Intergovernmental Personnel Act detailees, granting them privileged access to the agency’s extensive demographic databases. Two of these individuals co-authored an anonymously released analysis that asserted thousands of noncitizens voted in the 2020 election, a claim later criticized for flawed methodology.

Census staff describe the concentration of AFPI personnel as “unusual” and potentially disrespectful to the bureau’s nonpartisan mission. The group is assigned to a project overseen by deputy director Michael Lachanski, a former fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute, and is tasked with answering questions from senior Census and Commerce officials. Experts warn that the report may be the first step in leveraging Census data to challenge the legitimacy of the 2024 midterms or the 2028 presidential race. The situation echoes prior political pressure on the bureau, including a 2021 resignation of its director after whistleblower allegations of partisan data manipulation.