Tag: Trump Commerce Department

Trump’s legal battles over census go public

The Hill logoThe Trump administration’s internal legal struggles to add a question on citizenship to the 2020 census are spilling out into the open.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced late Sunday that it was cleaning house on the team of lawyers that have spent the past year defending the citizenship question in court. That move came just days after DOJ attorneys told a federal judge that they were caught off guard by President Trump’s announcement that he still wanted the question on the census after the Supreme Court ruled against it. 

Legal experts were shocked by the decision to change attorneys. But it may have been the only way the administration could continue pushing for the citizenship question in court.

View the complete July 8 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

The Trump administration has changed its story on the census citizenship question at least 10 times in four months

Washington Post logoOriginally, it was supposed to help the Justice Department enforce the Voting Rights Act. Then the Supreme Court said that was a pretext.

It would not be used for immigration enforcement. Then it could be used to deal with the “burden” of undocumented immigrants.

It would not be used for congressional redistricting. Then it could be.

View the complete July 8 article by JM Rieger on The Washington Post website here.

Plaintiffs ask court to block Trump efforts to add citizenship question to census

The Hill logoPlaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce over the 2020 census are asking a federal court to block the Trump administration from delaying the printing of census forms or changing them to include a citizenship question.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the motion Friday with the state of New York and other groups seeking to block the citizenship question from being added.

The Supreme Court blocked the citizenship question last week, ruling the administration’s argument that the query is necessary to enforce the Voting Rights Act was unsatisfactory. However, Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge Friday that the Trump administration is reviewing “all available options” for adding the question.

View the complete July 5 article by Tal Axelrod on The Hill logo here.

Justice says it is reviewing ‘all available options’ on census

The Hill logoJustice Department lawyers told a federal judge Friday that the Trump administration is reviewing “all available options” for adding a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 census after the Supreme Court blocked the query’s inclusion last week.

“The Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Commerce have been asked to reevaluate all available options following the Supreme Court’s decision and whether the Supreme Court’s decision would allow for a new decision to include the citizenship question on the 2020 Decennial Census,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in a filing Friday.

“In the event the Commerce Department adopts a new rationale for including the citizenship question on the 2020 Decennial Census consistent with the decisions of the Supreme Court, the Government will immediately notify this Court so that it can determine whether there is any need for further proceedings or relief,” they wrote.

View the complete July 5 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Trump considering executive order on citizenship question for census

The Hill logoPresident Trump told reporters on Friday that he is considering an executive order to ensure a citizenship question is included on the U.S. census.

Trump told reporters on the White House lawn that he has four or five options and is “thinking about” an executive order. He also said his administration could begin printing the 2020 census and later include the question as part of an addendum.

“We’re thinking about doing that, it’s one of the ways,” Trump told reporters before departing the White House for his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., noting that administration officials are “doing very well” on the issue.

View the complete July 5 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Trump administration drops citizenship question from 2020 census

The Hill logoThe Trump administration said Tuesday it was dropping a citizenship question from the 2020 census, days after the Supreme Court ruled against the question’s inclusion.

President Trump had initially said that he wanted to delay the decennial census as his administration continued to push for the question to be included in the 2020 survey.

But that effort appears to be over, after a Justice Department lawyer said the decision was made to start printing census materials without the question included.

View the complete July 2 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

House Democrats to continue census probe

Panel will resume query into why a citizenship query was added to next year’s census.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee will continue to investigate the addition of a citizenship query to next year’s census, Chairman Elijah E. Cummings said Thursday in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to block the question.

The investigation has been a hotspot of conflict between the House and the administration. The committee voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt over document subpoenas earlier this month. Cummings, D-Md., called on the pair to comply with the subpoenas.

“[I]t is now even more clear that our Committee’s investigation must get to the truth of why the Trump Administration was pushing the citizenship question and why it is engaging in this coverup,” Cummings said in a statement.

View the complete June 28 article by Michael Macagnone on The Roll Call website here.

Trump rage-tweets an idea that would violate the Constitution in furious response to the Supreme Court

AlterNet logoIn a blow to the Trump administration’s plans, Chief Justice of the United State John Roberts issued an opinion Thursday ruling against the Commerce Department’s plan to include a citizenship question on the upcoming 2020 Census.

While the administration claimed that the question was designed to help the Justice Department enforce the Voting Rights Act, Roberts and a majority of the court found that this explanation was not supported by the evidence in the case, and the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision to remand the decision back to the agency. Many observers argued this will likely prevent the department from adding the question to the Census in time for the upcoming Census (though there’s some debate about this), and President Donald Trump, in two rage-filled tweets sent from his Japan trip, said he wants to delay the process:

View the complete Jun 27 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.

Trump asks lawyers if they can delay 2020 Census in response to SCOTUS ruling

Axios logoPresident Trump tweeted on Thursday that he has asked lawyers to delay the 2020 Census in response to a Supreme Court decision that will temporarily block the administration from adding a citizenship question.

Seems totally ridiculous that our government, and indeed Country, cannot ask a basic question of Citizenship in a very expensive, detailed and important Census, in this case for 2020. I have asked the lawyers if they can delay the Census, no matter how long, until the United States Supreme Court is given additional information from which it can make a final and decisive decision on this very critical matter. Can anyone really believe that as a great Country, we are not able the ask whether or not someone is a Citizen. Only in America!

Why it matters: It’s unclear what power Trump has to delay the Census, but it’s significant that the White House is considering additional legal action in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling. Per the Constitution, the Census is required to occur every 10 years.

View the complete Jun 27 article on the Axios website here.

Supreme Court rules against Trump on census citizenship question

The Hill logoThe Supreme Court found Thursday that the Trump administration did not give an adequate reason for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, blocking the question for at least the time being.

The move is a surprise win for advocates who opposed the question’s addition, arguing it will lead to an inaccurate population count. The administration had argued the question was needed to enforce the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

Those challenging the question said that asking about citizenship would cause non-citizens or immigrants to skip the question. The Trump administration has maintained in court filings that the data would not be accessible to other parts of the federal government, like immigration officials, but opponents argued that the implied perception surrounding asking about citizenship is enough to cause minority groups to not answer the question, or skip out on the census altogether.

View the complete June 27 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.