Updated: Census Citizenship Question Officially Cancelled

[Updated July 3, 2019]

Following last week's Supreme Court decision in United States Department of Commerce v. New York, which dealt a significant blow to the Trump administration's plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, confirmation arrives that the question will officially now longer be included in the biennial count.

Zoe Tillman reports: "The Trump administration will carry out the 2020 Census without a citizenship question, according to an email the Justice Department sent Tuesday to groups that sued over the question, marking a huge victory for Democrats and civil rights advocates."

The Supreme Court had left open the possibility of the Department of Commerce adding a citizenship question in the future. "A majority of the justices — Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. joined the court's more liberal wing — concluded that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had given a 'contrived' reason for adding the question now," explains Tillman.

President Trump responded to the ruling by tweeting that he might delay the entire Census to force the change through. That threat turned out to be empty, according to these reports.

Update: Despite both the Department of Justice email and a public statement from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross confirming the news that the citizenship question would not be included on the 2020 Census form, President Donald Trump took to Twitter today to call the news "FAKE!" and insist his administration is moving forward with the citizenship question.  

The News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE! We are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019