Rep. William Clay, who heads the subcommittee that oversees the census is on record saying, "I welcome the president's, and Rahm Emanuel's, and the entire White House team's involvement in the upcoming 2010 decennial census...It's totally preposterous to say that the census could be used as a political tool."

Washington Examiner:  Who will investigate the Obama administration?
"So this week Issa wrote President Obama a tough-sounding letter, saying that placing the Census Bureau in the hands of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel -- the hard-edged political operative who directed the Democrats' successful 2006 campaign to win the House -- is "a shamefully transparent attempt by your administration to politicize the Census Bureau and manipulate the 2010 Census."  At that point, a powerful member of Congress might have made a demand, or issued a threat. Instead, Issa signed off by saying to Obama, "We respectfully request that you not follow through" on the Census Bureau change."

Politico:  Issa and McHenry - "Census should be free from politics."
"The Obama administration's recent actions regarding the census are outrageous and unprecedented. Commanding the census director to report directly to the White House is a naked political power grab and transparently partisan. There is only one possible reason for it -- political interference in the 2010 census and partisan manipulation of the results. This ill-conceived proposal undermines a constitutionally obligated process that speaks to the very heart of our democracy."

San Francisco Chronicle:  Darrell Issa jumps on census-count issue
Issa, the ranking Republican on the House committee on Oversight and Government Reform, put out a release asking the question: "Would Democrats Trust Karl Rove to Control Census?"
 
CNNPolitics.com:  Redrawing the lines -- almost 200 years of gerrymandering
"In a letter to the president, House Republicans Patrick McHenry and Darrell Issa described the White House as "circumventing the secretary of commerce" and called it "both outrageous and unprecedented," suggesting the Obama administration could affect U.S. census results and congressional districting due out in 2010.  The move, they say, could insulate Democratic congressional power."

Fox News:  Dems Downplay Obama's Plan to Oversee 2010 Census
"Commanding the census director to report directly to the White House is a naked political power grab and transparently partisan," Issa added. "The need for an independent Census Bureau is recognized by Republicans and Democrats alike -- and every living former census director is on record supporting an independent Census Bureau."

Roll Call:  Census Already Drawing Knives
"Issa also said that the White House's seizing of the 2010 Census oversight violated the Constitution, which leaves Congress as the watchdog. He added that the Constitution is clear on the issue and is "not open to sleight of hand."

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:  Confounding the Census
"If political hacks control the census, it will corrupt its integrity. That could skew the number of congressmen from the respective states and therefore the Electoral College, and allow the Obama administration to spread around the wealth based on pumped-up demographic data."