Donald Trump takes first step toward new census, something Ron DeSantis wants before the Midterms

President Donald Trump has taken the first step in potentially launching a new census. That’s something that Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to happen this year in hopes it grants Florida more U.S. House seats.

Trump said he has instructed federal agencies to explore immediate improvement to the census, though he did not make clear what sort of timeline he wants pursued.

“I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate census based on modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The push comes as DeSantis calls for a new population count and reapportionment of U.S. House seats. DeSantis at a Manatee County press conference said he personally told Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that Florida “got a raw deal in the census.”

DeSantis also raised the topic in South Florida as he led Trump on a tour of the Alligator Alcatraz facility. There, he said Florida had been “gypped” out of a U.S. House seat after the 2020 census.

“I would love for them to redo the census for ’26. My Legislature will redistrict those lines, we’ll get it to where it’s fair. But as it’s right now, this country is not fairly apportioned,” he said.

That read appears somewhat backed up by studies, including one from Florida TaxWatch that said Florida should have gained one more House seat than it did after the last census. But the report notably blamed an undercount mostly of undocumented individuals in the state for the discrepancy.

Florida gained one seat after the prior census, but many at the time of the last reapportionment hoped for two or three more seats.

It remains unclear whether legislative leaders have any appetite for redistricting ahead of the 2026 Midterms. The Legislature, even under much friendlier leadership, butted heads with the Governor the last time lines were drawn. DeSantis vetoed the congressional maps the Legislature initially approved, then pressured lawmakers to approve a map drawn by his Office instead.

That map resulted in a four-seat gain for Republicans in the congressional delegation in the 2022 election. Critics blasted the DeSantis map for breaking up two districts where Black voters largely controlled the outcome of elections, but the Florida Supreme Court recently upheld the map and sided with DeSantis’ arguments that those districts were wrongly drawn with race as a motivating factor.

Now, DeSantis wants another shot, but after a new population count. Of note, the Florida Constitution requires the Legislature to review and redraw all legislative lines following the decennial census. It neither demands nor prohibits a redistricting process to be undertaken otherwise.

However, such a move could complicate redistricting efforts already underway in other states. For example, Texas’ Republican Legislature already has draft maps under consideration that net five Republican-leaning congressional seats in the Lone Star State at Democrats’ expense. Other states controlled by Republicans and Democrats have also toyed with a mid-decade redistricting as well, all using existing population data.

It’s unclear how — or when — the Commerce Department might apply election results to any new Census, or what the results may be. But the generation of new population counts could set back redistricting results in any state that are already underway.

Minority advocacy groups in Florida criticized Trump’s move.

“We strongly condemn Donald Trump’s call to trample on the voting rights of millions by ordering an unlawful census. The attempt to erase undocumented people from the census is not only morally repugnant, it is legally indefensible,” said Genesis Robinson, executive director of Equal Ground. “The United States Census is not a political tool for any administration to manipulate for partisan advantage. It must be conducted thoughtfully and deliberately, with a focus on reaching every person, regardless of race, income, or immigration status. For conservative states like Florida and Texas to stand by, waiting to seize on this unlawful order from their authoritarian-in-chief to upend our democracy is shameful.

“Instead of grandstanding with unconstitutional demands for a new census, we call on this administration to prepare in earnest for the 2030 count, to invest in the resources, personnel, and protections necessary to ensure every community is counted fairly and completely.”