CENSUS/CITIZENSHIP/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Despite an embarrassing loss before the Supreme Court two weeks ago, the Trump administration has decided to press its case to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Attorney General William Barr promises to reveal a ‘pathway’ forward this week, although what the administration’s new argument might be is unclear. Yet the administration has backed itself into a corner, effectively foreclosing a legal path forward. If Trump wants that question on the census, that “pathway” might not end up running through the courts, but around them. Anyone who followed the long saga of Trump’s travel ban—which courts initially blocked before the Supreme Court upheld a revised version—knows courts are very deferential to the federal government’s stated purpose for policy changes. But they’re also willing to say ‘stop’ if the government turns out to be lying about its motives.”
–Renato Mariotti, “Trump’s Path Forward on Census Question Could be Headed to Constitutional Crisis,” Politico, July 10, 2019