Trump's legal allies reportedly 'stunned and depressed' by his census decision
President Trump's conservative legal allies are "stunned and depressed" after he backed down from his attempt to have a citizenship question added to the 2020 census, Axios reports.
Federalist Society members including executive vice president Leonard Leo, who has advised Trump on Supreme Court nominees, were "shocked and floored by how weak the decision was," the report from Jonathan Swan says, with one conservative leader calling the whole situation "a total waste of everyone's time" that will "give people pause the next time one has to decide how far to stick one's neck out."
Printing of the 2020 census began after the Supreme Court last month told the Trump administration it had not provided a sufficient explanation for needing to add a citizenship question. But then President Trump began publicly weighing the possibility of an executive order as Attorney General William Barr said he saw a pathway to getting the question added. But on Thursday afternoon, Trump backed down, deciding he would seek to obtain the citizenship data he is after by other means.
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.
Not all conservatives were so apoplectic about Trump's decision, though, with attorney and Trump critic George Conway mocking this Axios report on Twitter by suggesting these "stalwarts" Swan references "don't have much experience in courtrooms."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
The 8 best hospital dramas of all timethe week recommends From wartime period pieces to of-the-moment procedurals, audiences never tire of watching doctors and nurses do their lifesaving thing
-
‘Implementing strengthened provisions help advance aviation safety’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How Manchesterism could change the UKThe Explainer The idea involves shifting a centralized government to more local powers
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
