Two years after the President was wowed by the French’s military-heavy Bastille Day celebration, Trump finally got his own fete, complete with military flyovers and, controversially, tanks.
But now, Trump is pushing for something bigger, with impacts that will echo over the next decade, as he seeks to add a question related to citizenship to the 2020 census.
Despite Trump’s own Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross saying the government would proceed with printing the census sans question (that after the Supreme Court ruled they’d need to come up with a better argument), Trump reversed course (by tweet, of course).
Directing his lawyers to “look at every option,” the administration had to meet a Friday afternoon deadline to explain in court what the government plans to do.
So lawyers were at work over the Fourth. “Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice are working very hard on this, even on the 4th of July!” Trump tweeted Thursday.
By Friday morning, Trump offered up some alternate avenues he’s considering to get the question added to the census, including an executive order: “It’s one of the ways — we have four or five ways we can do it,” he said.
Despite the fact that the census is already being printed, Trump said the citizenship question could be added “as an amendment.”
There appears to be no clear or easy resolution to the citizenship question’s place on the 2020 census. Department of Justice lawyers told a federal judge in Maryland on Friday that while they don’t have the specific argument in place YET, they could provide a new rationale for including a citizenship question on the census. The lawyers made no mention of a potential executive order.
The Point: What Trump wants, Trump will work very hard to get.
Below, the week in 23 emails.
Monday:
- Democrats investigating whistleblower claims Pompeo’s security picked up Chinese food, his dog
- New York Times: Trump administration mulling plan that would accept North Korea as a nuclear power
- Government misses its own census printing deadline as Trump hints at delay over citizenship question
Tuesday:
- Pence cancels New Hampshire event to return to White House
- Trump claims military is ‘thrilled’ to participate in his July 4 celebration
- House Democrats file lawsuit to obtain Trump tax returns
- Acting chief of staff Mulvaney and his adviser out-earn White House staff
- Trump administration won’t ask about citizenship on census
- Trump’s political allies receive VIP tickets for July 4 show
Wednesday:
- Trump says he is ‘absolutely moving forward’ with census question, contradicting his own administration’s officials
- Military chiefs have concerns about politicization of Trump’s July 4th event
- Acting DHS chief orders immediate investigation into offensive posts allegedly written by Border Patrol agents
- Washington Post: Park service to redirect $2.5 million for July 4 celebration
- VA secretary changes rules to allow displaying of religious symbols
- ICE seeks to fine some undocumented immigrants potentially thousands of dollars
Thursday:
- Trump at his rainy July 4th event: Americans ‘part of one of the greatest stories ever told’
- Trump critic Justin Amash quits Republican Party
- Homeland Security doctor says he’s giving migrant children the care he’d want for his own kids
- Pence touts ‘most generous system of legal immigration’ during naturalization ceremony
- Trump faces ‘limited paths forward’ on census citizenship question
Friday:
- Trump defends state of border facilities, despite unsanitary and overcrowded conditions
- Joe Biden says he wasn’t prepared for Kamala Harris to confront him the way she did
- Justice Department to tell court it is looking at options to add citizenship question to census
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