A tiny bit of good news
by digby
There will not be a question asking about citizenship on the 2020 census, the Trump administration said Tuesday.
The decision comes less than a week after the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the administration from adding the question, saying it did not provide an adequate explanation for the addition.
“We can confirm that the decision has been made to print the 2020 Decennial Census questionnaire without a citizenship question, and that the printer has been instructed to begin the printing process,” Kate Bailey, a Justice Department attorney, wrote to lawyers for the plaintiffs challenging the addition of the question.
Justice Department spokeswoman Kelly Laco confirmed the move in an email to HuffPost.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, made the decision to add the citizenship question in 2018, even though Census Bureau officials advised against doing so.
“I respect the Supreme Court but strongly disagree with its ruling regarding my decision to reinstate a citizenship question on the 2020 Census,” Ross said in a statement Tuesday. “The Census Bureau has started the process of printing the decennial questionnaires without the question. My focus, and that of the Bureau and the entire Department is to conduct a complete and accurate census.”
If Ross hadn’t been such a blatant liar that even John Roberts couldn’t quite let this one pass, he would probably have prevailed.
But this is very good news. It gives a little bit of breathing room to the sane people.
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