Once again President Trump has to rely on the Supreme Court to reaffirm another action item. It took quite a bit of time before the Supreme Court finally declared what many who aren’t raging liberal knew: that his executive order on immigration erroneously referred to as the so-called Muslim ban was constitutional and well within his authority as president of the United States. With the 2020 census coming up, the Trump White House wants to include a citizenship question in the survey, something that hasn’t been done since the 1950s. Of course, the Left went nuts. One Obama-appointed judge slapped it down, but another federal judge from the D.C. District Court refused to block it based on privacy grounds. On Friday, the Supreme Court officially added the case to its docket. Arguments will begin in April, as a definite decision must be rendered by June (via WaPo):
The Supreme Court added a politically explosive case to its docket Friday, agreeing to decide by the end of June whether the Trump administration can add a question about citizenship to the 2020 Census form sent to every American household.
The census hasn’t asked the question of each household since 1950, and a federal judge last month stopped the Commerce Department from adding it to the upcoming count. He questioned the motives of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and said the secretary broke a “veritable smorgasbord” of federal rules by overriding the advice of career officials.
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The Trump administration had asked the court to bypass its normal procedures and accept the case immediately because it needs an answer by the end of June to print census forms and conduct the count on schedule.
Justices will hear the case in late April and review the 227-page opinion handed down by U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman of New York, rather than require it first to go through the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
The Trump administration, as well as the 18 states, local governments and others challenging Ross’s decision, told the court that the decision was so important it warranted exceptional treatment.
The case is officially called Department of Commerce v. New York.