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The Census Bureau is now headed by a Trump official in an acting position

By Hansi Lo Wang

Published September 19, 2025 at 11:11 AM PDT

A door knocker carries a U.S. Census Bureau messenger bag outside a home in Winter Park, Fla., in 2020.

George Cook is the Trump administration's new acting director of the Census Bureau, which has been thrust into the middle of a renewed attempt by President Trump to alter the national head count.

The Trump administration has put in place a new acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau, NPR has learned.

George Cook, a Trump official at the Commerce Department, was named the bureau's leader as of Wednesday, according to three bureau employees who received a staff announcement Friday and asked NPR not to name them because they are not authorized to speak to the press.

The press offices for the bureau and the White House did not immediately respond to NPR's requests for comment.

Cook's new role comes after President Trump made a controversial call for a "new" census while preparations for the country's 2030 head count are already underway.

In January, the bureau's previous director — Robert Santos, a nominee of former President Joe Biden — decided to cut short his five-year term.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.