Census director confirmed

WASHINGTON –President Barack Obama’s nominee to be census director was approved Monday by the Senate, ending weeks of opposition from a pair of Republicans over his role in next year’s high-stakes count.

The voice vote confirming Robert Groves, a veteran survey researcher at the University of Michigan, came after supporters urged action so that Groves can take the helm in the final months before the head count. More than a dozen states stand to gain or lose House seats after 2010 depending in part on how fully their residents are tallied.

To advance the stalled nomination, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., used a procedural motion that required 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate. After that motion passed 76-15, senators quickly confirmed Groves.

Groves, 60, had been easily approved by the Senate Homeland Security committee in May after he ruled out the controversial use of statistical adjustments in 2010 to make up for undercounted populations. But Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and David Vitter, R-La., blocked a full confirmation vote, saying they wanted assurances from the White House that sampling wouldn’t be used.