Axelrod Insists White House Controls Census
Monday, February 16, 2009 7:47 PM
By: Rick Pedraza

White House political adviser David Axelrod says the Obama administration’s plan to put the U.S. Census Bureau under the control of top administration officials will keep the bureau in expert hands.

Axelrod, appearing on "FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace," said that, despite the the West Wing's move to manage the bureau, the census would continue to “be in the charge of the professionals who conduct it."

Republicans, who oppose the move on the grounds that it will politicize the 2010 census, say supervision of it by the Democratic Party will taint the results and skew new congressional representative district lines for the 2012 elections.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., weighed in on the move by telling Newsmax TV she and her fellow Commerce Committee members are "terribly disappointed and very concerned" that Obama wants to end the traditional autonomy of the bureau by placing it directly under the control of the White House.

“This is a very dangerous move,â€