President Trump responded to reports that the fight to add the citizenship question to the census is not over. He claims that reports to the contrary are not over.
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
According to CNBC:
President Donald Trump on Wednesday branded as “fake” news reports that his administration was dropping plans to ask people if they are U.S. citizens on the 2020 census — despite officials in his own administration having said on Monday that the question will not be asked.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and a Justice Department lawyer had both said Tuesday that the Census Bureau is in the process of printing the census questionnaire without the citizenship question.
The high court ordered the case challenging the question to be reconsidered by a lower court, leaving the Commerce Department with little or no time to have the dispute settled legally before this past Monday’s deadline for printing the questionnaires.
But Trump, in a tweet Wednesday, said, “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!”
President Trump could be playing a game with the media here. He never stated that the Census was not being printed without the question, he only stated that the fight to add the question was not over.
The Trump administration could look to satisfy the Supreme Courts view while also moving forward with Census for 2020. This information has not yet been released.
