President Trump claimed he’s directed the Justice Department and the Department of Commerce to do “whatever necessary” to get the citizenship question on the 2020 census, just hours after the DOJ confirmed the question wouldn’t be on it.
A DOJ spokesperson confirmed to TPM on Tuesday that a version of the census without the citizenship question had been sent off to be printed.
Trump tweeted Tuesday evening that it was “very sad” that the Supreme Court wouldn’t allow the question and claimed his administration would do what it needed to do to bring this “most vital of questions and this important case to a successful conclusion.”
….to do whatever is necessary to bring this most vital of questions, and this very important case, to a successful conclusion. USA! USA! USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019
Later Wednesday morning, Trump insisted reports that his administration had backed down were “FAKE!”
The News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE! We are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019
The Supreme Court last week upheld a lower court decision blocking Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross from adding the citizenship question to the census, but the opinion arguably left the Trump administration with some wiggle room to re-add it.
The decision to back down and not include the question in the 2020 census came as the administration was under a time crunch to send the survey forms to the printer.
