The Census Bureau is now headed by a Trump official in an acting position
Source: NPR
Updated September 19, 2025 4:45 PM ET
The Trump administration has put in place a new acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau, NPR has learned.
George Cook, an 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 office for the bureau redirected NPR's inquiry to the Commerce Department, which, along with the White House, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cook becomes the latest Trump administration official to have multiple jobs, as he is also serving as the Commerce Department's acting undersecretary for economic affairs — a position that oversees the bureau — and as chief of staff to that role, according to copies of the Friday email announcement obtained by NPR.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5288846/trump-census-bureau-director-george-cook