Jeffrey Mervis – Census: “Add the U.S. Census Bureau to the list of government agencies whose activities may be threatened by the election of Donald Trump and the new Congress. The bureau has traditionally maintained a fairly low profile among federal agencies. At the same time, it symbolizes many things that the president-elect and congressional Republicans say they don’t like about government—and soon will be in a position to change. For starters, the Census Bureau needs a hefty budget increase this year to continue preparations for its constitutionally mandated job of conducting a decennial census in 2020. But that request goes against the Republican mantra of curbing government spending. The decennial census and other surveys also generate reams of statistics that may clash with Trump’s penchant for disregarding data or making up his own. Then there’s the questions themselves, which some people regard as intrusive or unnecessary…”