Donald Trump has been undermining the U.S. government like a nest of termites gnawing on the wooden beams supporting a house. He has been attacking the nation’s intelligence agencies with regularity and installed his Roy Cohenesque Attorney General William Barr. Every time he speaks to the press or at one of his rallies, the president clamors about the media, condemning them as “fake news.” In the meantime, he has been pulling down the House of Representatives by stonewalling their subpoenas. Now, there is this.
POTUS hand-picked two seats on the Supreme Court, but the court ruled against Trump inserting a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. There has been proof in the form of computer records indicating that the administration wanted to insert the question to guarantee that people of color would be less likely to vote. They have been more apt to vote for Democrats than Republicans.
Even though Roberts left room for the White House attorneys to come back with a better argument, Trump was in too big of a hurry. Rather than accept SCOTUS’ decision, Trump decided to make an end run around the court.
Attorney General William Barr said that he had found “a legal path to adding a citizenship question,” according to The Associated Press (AP).
Barr noted that within days the administration will act on the racist question. A senior official told the AP that Trump intended to come out with a “presidential memorandum” for the Commerce Department to act.
Trump wanted the 2020 Census to include the citizenship question, because that could have a big impact on the upcoming presidential election — in his favor. There are far more Democrats in the nation than Republicans. However, the Electoral College has been manipulated through gerrymandering to give the Republicans that advantage.
The new citizenship question would make immigrants far less likely to complete the census questions, if they believed the government would be able to track and deport them. The Census has been a way for the government to allocate representatives and funds to people, not to citizens. Should Trump succeed, those advantages would go away. The AP wrote:
 ‘That in turn would redistribute money and political power away from Democratic-led cities where immigrants tend to cluster to whiter, rural areas where Republicans do well.’
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion that the White House offered a reason that justified adding the 2020 Census question. It “indicated that the White House’s justification seems to have been contrived” aka “a lie.”
Barr told the Associated Press (AP) that he and the president had been discussing the matter for some time:
‘I agree with him that the Supreme Court decision was wrong. (He believes) an opportunity potentially to cure the lack of clarity that was the problem and we might as well take a shot at doing that.’
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that the White House was just trying to:
‘…discourage Hispanic-Americans from being counted for fear information could be used to possibly deport one of their relatives.’
One of the White House attorneys’ arguments was that the question would aid enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. This act offers minority voters full access to voting. Trump also decided to shake things up by trading out the Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys on the case for another set of DOJ attorneys.
A DOJ spokesperson released a statement that read:
‘Since these cases began, the lawyers representing the United States in these cases have given countless hours to defending the Commerce Department and have consistently demonstrated the highest professionalism, integrity and skill inside and outside the courtroom.’
One of the DOJ officials relayed that the incoming group of attorneys would be a mix of “career and politically appointed attorneys.” The top DOJ civil division attorney was removed from leading the litigation team.
The White House said the new attorneys might see another way of arguing Trump’s new position on the matter.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
