President Donald Trump will take executive action on adding a citizenship question to the U.S. Census, an administration official confirmed Thursday to the Daily Caller.
The president floated an announcement on the citizenship question on Twitter, stating, “At [the Social Media Summit’s] conclusion, we will all go to the beautiful Rose Garden for a News Conference on the Census and Citizenship.”
The White House will be hosting a very big and very important Social Media Summit today. Would I have become President without Social Media? Yes (probably)! At its conclusion, we will all go to the beautiful Rose Garden for a News Conference on the Census and Citizenship.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2019
An administration official told the Daily Caller that Trump does intend to take action on the citizenship question, and the White House updated its daily press schedule to include presidential “remarks on citizenship and the census” Thursday evening.
According to a report in The New York Times, Trump may either issue an executive order or a presidential memorandum on the issue. While an executive order would attempt to unilaterally add the citizenship question to the Census, a memorandum would merely clarify the administration’s views on adding the question.
Any action taken by the president would be subject to legal challenges, as the Supreme Court issued an injunction preventing the administration from adding the citizenship question. The high court ruled in late June that the administration did not provide a sufficient explanation for adding the question, but offered them another opportunity to clarify its reasoning in front of the court. (RELATED: Supreme Court Rules On Census Citizenship Question)
The administration would likely have to file a motion related to the president’s executive action in order to overturn the injunction, the Times reported. Separately, Trump could face direct legal challenges to whichever action he chooses to take.
Trump announced in early July that he wanted his administration to continue to pursue legal action related to the Supreme Court’s decision on the citizenship question before printing the 2020 Census.