The relevant portion of the statute governing administration of the census:
The Bureau shall be headed by a Director of the Census, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Director shall perform such duties as may be imposed upon him by law, regulations, or orders of the Secretary.
In 1989, the White House of Bush Sr. sparked outrage from Democrats when it proposed nominating Alan Heslop as director of the Census Bureau. Heslop was "a Republican reapportionment expert" according to the contemporary coverage in the Washington Post, and Democrats feared that he would politicize the count. Now Rahm Emanuel, former head of the DCCC -- a job that would certainly qualify him as an expert on redistricting -- is moving to make the head of the Census Bureau answer directly to him. It's a pretty egregious attempt to politicize the statistical science behind the census as John Fund explained in the Journal, and it would seem to be a clear violation of the statue outlining the administrative hierarchy. The Secretary of Commerce is the only one authorized to give direct orders to the Director of the Census Bureau, and that Secretary will likely be a Republican. Democrats should consider it the cost of bipartisanship -- and Republicans should demand that they are paid in full. Update: A reader adds:
The Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (to be headed by relentless Bush Administration critic Dawn Johnsen) may be called upon to review the legality of the move. Johnsen has been a vigorous proponent of DOJ "transparency" -- specifically, she's argued that the DOJ should release any Office of Legal Counsel opinion in which the President refuses to enforce a statute. So how soon can we expect the Obama Administration to release the legal memoranda discussing the legality of their Census manuevering?