NACo Policy Insider Webinar Series: Understanding the Federal Landscape for Counties, August 13

Dozens of current and former county officials are running for governor, lieutenant governor and Congress in 2026.

NACo CEO Matt Chase writes: “Taxation policy and service delivery decisions are being moved, state by state, from the courthouse to the statehouse. The accountability lands on us. The authority to meet it increasingly doesn’t.”

On September 10, the U.S Census Bureau published a proposed rule to the 2030 Decennial Census that would create two new parts of the 15 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that among other changes would a) define “usual residence” that excludes foreign persons previously counted that are not U.S. citizens or lawful residents, and b) would eliminate any questions about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation from the census questionnaire used to enumerate the population. The proposed ruling outlines only 30 days for public comments, which are due on October 13.  

On Sept. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal from the White House to pause a lower court’s ruling blocking its use of a new SAVE system ahead of the midterms.

The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision to allow the Trump administration to move forward with its Executive Order 14399 directing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to compile official U.S. citizenship lists to be used in voter citizenship verification and the U.S. Postal Service to impose new mail-in ballot restrictions.

The U.S. Congress passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend government funding through December 11 and delay the OMB proposed rule on Unform Guidance that governs how every federal grant can be administered.