Trump abandons effort to add citizenship question to 2020 census


President Trump and Attorney General William Barr on Thursday announced that the White House would no longer pursue the effort to have a citizenship question added to the 2020 census, instead instructing the Commerce Department to seek the information through other means.
"We are not backing down," said Trump, who had promised to continue the fight to have the question added and was reportedly weighing a potential executive order. Trump emphasized his belief that the information is of monumental importance, saying, "We must have a reliable count of how many citizens, non-citizens and illegal aliens are in our country," and accusing Democrats of working to "conceal the number of illegal aliens in our midst," per Bloomberg. Critics argued the question would depress representation and funding appropriation in urban areas.
The Supreme Court last month ruled that the administration could not add the citizenship question to the census for now, a decision the White House criticized. Barr said the issue with adding the question was logistical, not legal, reports The Washington Post, as the printing and distribution of the 2020 census would need to be delayed to accommodate any changes. Trump said he would instruct every federal agency "to provide the Department of Commerce with all requested records regarding the number of citizens and non-citizens in our country."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’
Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
October 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailout
Talking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deployment
Speed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland