13 U.S.C. § 2
Section 2 · Bureau of the Census
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 17 court decisions — leading case United States v. Gerhard (2010)
Most recently applied in Electronic Privacy Information Center v. US Department of Commerce and Bureau of the Census (June 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Bureau is continued as an agency within, and under the jurisdiction of, the Department of Commerce.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 13, U.S.C., 1952 ed., §1 (Mar. 6, 1902, ch. 139, §1, 32 Stat. 51; Feb. 14, 1903, ch. 552, §4, 32 Stat. 826; Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 141, §1, 37 Stat. 736; June 18, 1929, ch. 28, §21, 46 Stat. 26).
Section 1 of title 13, U.S.C., 1952 ed., provided that the “Census Office” temporarily established in the Department of the Interior in accordance with the act of Mar. 3, 1899 (ch. 419, 30 Stat. 1014) “is made” a permanent office in the Department of Commerce. Such wording is no longer necessary, and the provisions, as revised in this section, merely continue the Bureau (of the Census) as an agency within, and under the jurisdiction of, the Department of Commerce.
Cross References
Bureau of the Census as a bureau in the Department of Commerce, see section 1511 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.
Collection and publication of foreign commerce and trade statistics, applicability of section to, see section 307 of this title.