A Trump appointee has been picked to be the acting head of the U.S. Census Bureau, replacing a career economist in the interim job, at a time when the for a new census that excludes people in the U.S. illegally.

George Cook, who is chief of staff for the economic affairs undersecretary at the Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau, has been performing the duties of bureau director as of this week, according to an email sent Friday to agency employees and shared with The Associated Press.

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