Trump administration asks Supreme Court to quickly take up census citizenship question

The Justice Department’s request to add a citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. Census was granted. Here’s how that could affect voting districts. (Joyce Koh, Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to bypass its normal procedures and decide quickly whether a question on citizenship can be placed on the 2020 Census.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman of New York ordered the administration to stop its plans to add the question to the survey. Furman said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross broke a “veritable smorgasbord” of federal rules by ordering the citizenship question added against the advice of career officials who said it was likely to cut down the response rate and make the census less accurate.

Normally, the Justice Department would appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. But Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco said that would not leave enough time for a final ruling from the Supreme Court.

View the complete January 22 article by Robert Barnes on The Washington Post website here.