Trump Proposes Delaying Census to Include Citizenship Question After Supreme Court Ruling

Judge blocks Trump question on citizenship in US Census
AFP
Charlie Spiering

President Donald Trump reacted Thursday to the Supreme Court ruling on the 2020 census citizenship question and proposed delaying the census to get the question approved.

“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,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Chief Justice John Roberts joined liberals in a 5-4 decision about the census, noting that there was a “disconnect” between the Secretary of Commerce’s decision to include the question and the reasons for doing so.

“Reasoned decisionmaking under the Administrative Procedure Act calls for an explanation for agency action,” Roberts wrote. “What was provided here was more of a distraction.”

Trump scoffed at the rationale authored by Roberts and the other liberal justices on the court.

“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,” he wrote.

According to analysts, it might be possible to delay the process to include the census question, but it would face additional court battles.

“Can anyone really believe that as a great Country, we are not able the ask whether or not someone is a Citizen,” Trump asked. “Only in America!”

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