Trump persists in adding census citizenship question

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Friday it will continue to look for legal grounds to force the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, hours after President Trump said he is “very seriously” considering an executive order to get the question included.

Trump said his administration is exploring a number of legal options, but the Justice Department did not say what options it has after the Supreme Court recently barred the question.

The government already has begun the process of printing the census questionnaire without that question.

The administration’s focus on asking broadly about citizenship for the first time since 1950 reflects the enormous political stakes and potential costs in the onceadecade population count that determines the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives for the next 10 years and the distribution of $675 billion in federal spending.

Trump said he might take executive action. “It’s one of the ways that we’re thinking about doing it, very seriously,” he said.

An executive order would not override court rulings blocking the inclusion of the citizenship question. But such an action from Trump would perhaps give administration lawyers a new basis to try to persuade federal courts that the question could be included.

Later Friday, Justice Department lawyers formally told a federal judge in Maryland the administration is not giving up the legal fight to add the citizenship question to the next census. But they also said it’s unclear how they will proceed, according to a court filing.

U.S. District Judge George Hazel gave the plaintiffs in the Maryland claim until Aug. 19 to gather more evidence and take testimony from administration officials. If Hazel finds discrimination, that could be a separate basis for blocking the citizenship question.

The Census Bureau’s own experts have said the question would discourage immigrants from participating and result in a less accurate census that would redistribute money and political power from cities where immigrants tend to cluster to whiter, rural areas.

Trump’s administration has faced numerous roadblocks to adding the question, including last week’s Supreme Court ruling that blocked its inclusion, at least temporarily. But Trump has pushed his administration to come up with a way to include the controversial query. He suggested Friday officials might be able to add an addendum with the question after it’s already printed.