The Trump administration suffered a major blow after the United States Supreme Court rejected its explanation for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.
A coalition of cities, counties and states filed a lawsuit challenging the decision of Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in March 2018 to reinstate the citizenship question to the Decennial Census. The coalition argued that Sec. Ross violated the Enumeration Clause and the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.
In January this year, Judge Jesse Furman of the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York blocked the citizenship question. He ruled that the Commerce Secretary did not follow proper procedures when he decided to include it to the 2020 Census.
The Commerce Department appealed the district court’s ruling to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court found Sec. Ross’s explanations to be “contrived” and a “distraction.”
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Commerce did not provide adequate and sound explanation to restore the citizenship question to the Decennial Census.
