No.
The delay of the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau findings were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Constitution requires a U.S. population count every 10 years to distribute House seats based on each state’s population. Physical restrictions brought on by the pandemic led to delays in census data collection and deliveries, but former President Joe Biden didn’t make intentional moves to postpone them. Census field operations were delayed by two-and-a-half months when the pandemic hit, directly causing a setback in finalized data.
Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds claimed during a May 31 News4Jax interview that the Biden administration’s delaying of 2020 Census findings shortchanged Florida of a congressional district. He said those delays justify the newly-drawn and GOP-friendly congressional map approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 4.
While the exact impacts of the 2020 delays are hard to verify, the Biden administration wasn’t personally responsible for them.
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Sources
- Congressional Research Service 2020 Census Delays
- U.S. Census Bureau 2020 Timeline Adjustments Due to COVID-192020 Census Delays
