Trump considering executive order to add citizenship question to census

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-considering-executive-action-and-other-legal-actions-over-citizenship-question/

President Trump is considering executive action and exploring other legal options to place the controversial citizenship question on the 2020 census, according to senior administration officials.

"The Supreme Court ruled that it is legal to have a citizenship question in the census if there's an appropriate explanation – and it should come as no surprise President Trump is looking at every option within his legal authority to add such a question," White House principal deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

It definitely doesn't come as a surprise that Trump wants to help Republicans rig elections.

[SnowLabrador]

Trump can do whatever he wants. If he does something that's technically illegal, it goes to the Supreme Court, which will uphold it.

[Indy Texas]

They already sent the order to the printers and gave them authorization to start.

If Trump wants a citizenship question, he's now going to have to pay for a second order of census forms and throw the first ones out.

So much for fiscal conservatism!

[Woody]

What a beast.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

What a beast.

You guys would’ve been burning down cities if this was Obama.

[JGibson]

This is a lawless tyrannical move by our manchild-in-chief.

[ProudModerate2]

LOL.
What a moron.
The Supreme Court has already decided on this. Which means the Buffoon-In-Chief cant use any of his powers to get around this. Period. End of story.

[Dr. Arch]

Literally almost everything Republicans accused Obama of doing.

[Stranger in a strange land]

He also claimed at one point that he could end Birthright Citizenship by executive order, but never actually issued said order (I'm guessing he was talked out of it by his legal team, who advised him it would just lead to an embarrassing defeat in the courts), so I take this with a grain of salt.

[Sir Mohamed]

Literally almost everything Republicans accused Obama of doing.

They also accused him of playing too much golf and blowing the deficit.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Literally almost everything Republicans accused Obama of doing.

They also accused him of playing too much golf and blowing the deficit.

Trump: Anything Obama did, I can do BIGGER AND BETTER!

[anvi]

One thing I don't understand about this legally is the following.  Didn't SCOTUS decide that the citizenship question could not be added to the census on the basis of the Administration's current rationale, and if they wanted to put the question out, they would have to get a lower court to agree to an argument establishing how a citizenship question would protect voting rights?  So, the forms  currently being ordered for printout with the question on it could only be sent out if the administration wins a lower court's confidence with a revised justification for the question.  So, until that decision, despite the expense and logistical headaches, both forms have to be at the ready.  But, let's say, for the sake of argument, Trump sent out the forms with the citizenship question anyway?  What would be the legal consequences?  Isn't the only remedy for that kind of violation, once again, impeachment?  And would the Pub Senate even think about convicting if that happened?  If there are no legal or constitutional consequences, what exactly is to stop Trump from defying SCOTUS on this one?

[Virginiá]

One thing I don't understand about this legally is the following.  Didn't SCOTUS decide that the citizenship question could not be added to the census on the basis of the Administration's current rationale, and if they wanted to put the question out, they would have to get a lower court to agree to an argument establishing how a citizenship question would protect voting rights?  So, the forms  currently being ordered for printout with the question on it could only be sent out if the administration wins a lower court's confidence with a revised justification for the question.  So, until that decision, despite the expense and logistical headaches, both forms have to be at the ready.  But, let's say, for the sake of argument, Trump sent out the forms with the citizenship question anyway?  What would be the legal consequences?  Isn't the only remedy for that kind of violation, once again, impeachment?  And would the Pub Senate even think about convicting if that happened?  If there are no legal or constitutional consequences, what exactly is to stop Trump from defying SCOTUS on this one?

I would read these:

https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106084
https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106089

Simply put: Roberts & Friends left the door open for a citizenship question, just not for the Trump admin's original reason of wanting to give GOP legislatures citizenship data to beef up their gerrymanders. It's just a bit tricky because you can't just come back to the court and act as if that was never the reason to begin with, even if the DoJ is trying to make that happen. No person with even a smidgen of common sense and a good faith interpretation of the situation would believe the administration suddenly has a new, honest and benign reason for adding the question.

And as Hasen states:

This means that if the Administration pushes the issue, it is going to be back before the Supreme Court, during the summer, with Justices scattered and new clerks in place. I said earlier that Chief Justice Roberts left a window open, but he left it open for a DOJ and Administration to act in a savvy way. These reversals and rule via tweet smack of amateur hour. This has got to be annoying Roberts, who is no doubt paying attention.

But, who knows. Trump already has 4 conservative justices who will always rule in favor of GOP entrenching their own power at any costs, and had a 5th but as Chief Justice, Roberts also feels duty-bound to protect the court's reputation, but would otherwise be a solid 5th vote for upholding any partisan maneuvering by a Republican president.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Trump's desperation is pathetic, as usual. But I don't blame him for attempting this. He always gets his way one way or another. So why not pull out all the stops in this instance too?

[ProudModerate2]

*** UPDATE ***

Federal judge permanently blocks Trump admin from adding citizenship question to 2020 census.

A New York federal judge has issued an order definitively blocking the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census in any form, despite the administration's insistence it has abandoned plans to add a question on the census.

Judge Jesse Furman, in his two-page order, also indicated the seriousness with which the court will continue to monitor this controversial issue, saying, "The Court will retain jurisdiction in this case to enforce the terms of this Order until the 2020 census results are processed and sent to the President by December 31, 2020."

https://us.cnn.com/2019/07/16/politics/judge-permanently-blocks-citizenship-question-2020-census/index.html