Robert Santos was confirmed Thursday as the next U.S. Census Bureau director, becoming the first person of color to lead the nation鈥檚 largest statistical agency on a permanent basis.
The Senate approved Santos, a third-generation Mexican American from San Antonio, Texas, for the job overseeing a bureau that conducts the once-a-decade census as well as surveys that create the data infrastructure of the nation.
The confirmation hit a small speed bump when Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida last month blocked an attempt for a quick approval and asked for a formal vote, saying he feared Santos would politicize the bureau, without offering further explanation. During his confirmation hearing, Santos, a statistician by training, told senators he was not a politician, though the position is a political appointment.
The new director inherits a Census Bureau workforce recovering from the execution of the most difficult head count of the U.S. in recent memory. The 2020 census was challenged last year by the pandemic, natural disasters, delays and attempts at political interference by the Trump administration.
In his new job, Santos, 66, will be responsible for leading the agency as it lays the groundwork for executing the next census in 2030, as well as shepherding the last releases of data gathered during the 2020 census and supervising other bureau programs.
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Mike Schneider, The Associated Press
