President Donald Trump abandoned his administration's pursuit to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, but through an executive order demanded that all government agencies compile and disclose existing data on citizenship.

“I am hereby ordering every department and agency in the federal government to provide the Department of Commerce with all requested records regarding the number of citizens and non-citizens in our country,” Trump said on Thursday from the White House Rose Garden. “We will leave no stone unturned.”

The administration changed course just a week after saying it would continue its fight to include the citizenship question on the census, although it had been blocked by the Supreme Court in June.

At first, the White House had appeared to accept the Supreme Court’s decision and ordered the 2020 census to be printed without the controversial question: "Is this person a citizen of the United States?"

Yet in a whiplash-inducing turnaround, which seemed to be prompted by a tweet from Trump, the Justice Department later said it would pursue alternative legal avenues to add the question. The department even attempted to replace its legal team on the census-related cases — a request that was denied in federal court.

The government provided “no reasons, let alone satisfactory reasons” for the team change, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman wrote in his decision, adding that “urgency — and the need for efficient judicial proceedings — has only grown” regarding the issue.

As recently as Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr told reporters that the administration was still pursuing a legal strategy that would “provide a pathway” for the question’s inclusion on the census.

Yet speaking after Trump on Thursday, Barr said that “as a practical matter, the Supreme Court decision closed all paths to adding the question to the 2020 census.”

He added that although a new rationale for the citizenship question’s inclusion would “ultimately survive legal review,” the government chose to obtain the data through an executive order to ensure the census is completed in a timely manner.

"This is a welcome reprieve of [Trump's] partisan agenda, and a win for all communities," Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the civil rights group The Leadership Conference Education Fund, said in a statement. "Trump's remarks were pure propaganda and a continuation of his lies. His attempt to save face is just a repackaging of what the government already does through administrative records."

Critics of the citizenship question were quick to respond to the announcement on social media.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, said that "reason has finally prevailed" and that the decision will at "long last allow us to put this national nightmare behind us & ensure all people are counted."

"It’s official. There will be NO citizenship question on the 2020 census. It’s over. We won," Dale Ho, the director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said on Twitter.

In 2018, when the administration first announced plans to include a citizenship question, several advocacy groups and a coalition of states filed lawsuits to block it, claiming it would suppress responses from immigrant communities. Opponents also argued that the Republican-led proposal was pursued to primarily stifle minority populations — which are often centered in urban, Democratic districts — to give more influence to rural areas.

“It is a means by which the administration can guarantee white, Republican rule for the next generation or so,” Aderson Francois, a law professor at Georgetown University, told Cheddar.

The concern was borne out after memos from a Republican strategist emerged during court proceedings that said the question should be added to benefit “Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites.”

Trump said, however, that the data on citizenship is “vital for formulating sound public policy” and claimed that critics of the inquiry “are not proud to be U.S citizens.

Yet advocacy groups, such as the ACLU, have already said they will challenge the executive order in court.

"While Trump backing down is a victory, our fight is far from over," Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said on Twitter.

Trump and Barr, who spoke alongside Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, did not take questions from the press.

Share:
More In Politics
How Wyoming Became a Top Tax Haven With Its 'Cowboy Cocktail'
The Cowboy State has become one of the world's top tax havens, according to the Pandora Papers, a trove of more than 11.9 million documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The Washington Post. The papers reveal, among other things, how ultra-wealthy people from around the world move money into the U.S., invest, and spend it under a shroud of secrecy. Allison Tait, University of Richmond law professor, joined Cheddar to talk about Wyoming's laidback tax laws, their impact on the nation's economy, and provided some details on the financial arrangement known as the "cowboy cocktail."
The Dangers of a Russa-China Partnership
China and Russia are saying they want to work closer together in different areas after a recent call between Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. What are the implications of a close partnership between Beijing and Moscow? Cheddar News breaks things down with expert Hagar Chemali.
Stocks Close Mostly Lower; Dow Suffers 500-Point Drop
Michele Schneider, Partner and Director of Trading Research & Education for MarketGauge.com, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says the spread of the Omicron variant and Jerome Powell's comments following the latest Fed decision are spooking investors heading into the weekend.
J&J Vaccine, Build Back Later & Love, Hate, Ate
Carlo and Baker wrap up another week discussing the latest explosion in new Covid cases in the Northeast, President Biden's stalled agenda and more. Plus, Love, Hate, Ate featuring the question: why did movie dialogue get so hard to understand?
Student Loan Moratorium Unlikely to Get Extended Despite Omicron Variant, Inflation
During the pandemic, student loan debt repayment was put on pause amid an unprecedented crisis. However, on February 1, 2022, the schedule is set to resume, and currently it looks as though the Biden administration has no plans to extend it. Cody Hounanian, the executive director of the Student Debt Crisis Center, spoke to Cheddar about why he believes the loan collection pause needs to at least be extended as borrowers are still struggling with the resurgent pandemic and inflation. "There's really no good economic or policy or political reason as far as why they're focused on getting payments started now," Hounanian said. "We surveyed 33,000 people with student loans last month. Nine out of 10 told us that they are not ready to resume payments."
Keep an Eye on These Politicians in 2022
As the 2022 midterm elections fast approach, here are some politicians Americans should be on the lookout for. Democratic Massachusetts state senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, who was the first Latina and Asian American woman to be elected to the state's senate, now has her eye on the governorship with Republican Charlie Baker leaving. New Jersey GOP candidate for Congress, Billy Prempeh also bears watching, and while Boston's newest mayor, Democrat Michelle Wu, was already sworn in last month, all eyes will be on Beantown as the first woman and first person of color to hold the office tries to usher in a new era for the city.
Load More