7/5/2019

CENSUS/CITIZENSHIP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge on Friday [7-5-19] that they would press ahead in their efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, but indicated they did not know yet what kind of rationale they would put forward. Just hours before, President Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House that he was considering four or five options, including an executive order, to restore the question…The maneuvering capped a chaotic week in which administration officials first promised to abide by a Supreme Court order that effectively blocked the question from next year’s head count, then reversed themselves after Mr. Trump denounced their statements on Twitter as “fake” and pledged to restore the question to census forms…Justice Department lawyers had until Friday afternoon to tell United States District Judge George J. Hazel how they would proceed — whether they would come up with a rationale to add the question or abandon the quest altogether.”

Michael Wines and Adam Liptak, “Trump Considering an Executive Order to Allow Citizenship Question on Census,” The new York Times online, July 5, 2019