Trump Pivots on Census Question, Will Instead Collect Citizenship Data with Executive Action

Department of Defense senior leaders attend the 9/11 Observance Ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Sept. 11, 2017. During the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, 184 people were killed at the Pentagon. (DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro)

President Trump said today during an address at the White House that he will not be including the citizenship question on the 2020 census following a Supreme Court ruling that blocked his administration’s initial attempt to do so.

Although Trump is pivoting on the citizenship question, he maintains that his administration is not giving up on the fight.

“Today I’m here to say we are not backing down in our effort to determine the citizenship status of the United States population,” Trump said to reporters in the Rose Garden.

“We will leave no stone unturned,” Trump added.

Trump blamed the census problem on “far-left Democrats” who want to “conceal the number of illegal aliens in our midst.” He will be issuing an executive order that Trump believes will thwart their efforts.

ABC News released a deceitful report earlier today claiming that Trump was “backing down” from his efforts.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is still enraged that Trump is moving forward with enforcing the law, inferring that he is a racist for wanting an accurate count of who exactly is in America.

“President Trump is so intent on intimidating communities of color that even when the courts and rule of law thwart him, he still tries to persist in his ham-handed ways,” Schumer said in a public statement.

“The president’s retreat on adding the misguided citizen question to the census was long overdue and is a significant victory for democracy and fair representation. Every person must be counted and no one should be intimidated by the president and his capricious behavior,” he added.

Attorney General Bill Barr will be tasked with collecting information as the result of Trump’s executive order that will help the administration determine the makeup of the congressional appointment and Electoral College more accurately.

“That information will be used for countless purposes. For example, there is a current dispute over whether illegal aliens can be included for apportionment purposes. … We will be studying this issue,” Barr said.

DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec said to Fox News that the legal fight related to the citizenship question on the 2020 census is now concluded because of Trump’s decision to issue the executive order.

“The Supreme Court held that Secretary Ross reasonably concluded that including the citizenship question on the 2020 decennial census would provide the most complete and accurate citizenship information, but it invalidated his decision to include that question on other grounds,” Kupec said.

“The Department of Justice disagrees with the Supreme Court’s decision. Today’s Executive Order represents an alternative path to collecting the best citizenship data now available, which is vital for informed policymaking and numerous other reasons. Accordingly, the Department will promptly inform the courts that the Government will not include a citizenship question on the 2020 decennial census,” she added.

Despite the fact that Trump has changed his tactics, he continues to talk about the ridiculousness of the SCOTUS ruling.

“We spend $20 billion on a census,” Trump said during his social media summit earlier in the day. “They go through houses, they go up, they ring doorbells, they talk to people. How many toilets do they have? How many desks do they have? How many beds? What’s their roof made of?”

“The only thing we can’t ask is, are you a citizen of the United States. Isn’t it the craziest thing?” Trump asked.

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