WASHINGTON, July 3, 2019 — President Trump on Wednesday denied reports that the Commerce Department would soon begin printing 2020 census questionnaires without the citizenship question his administration had hoped to include, despite his own Commerce Secretary’s assertions to the contrary.
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
“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!” Trump tweeted, adding that his administration is “absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question.”
Trump’s latest comments on the census directly contradict officials at the Commerce and Justice departments who say that the 2020 questionnaires are on their way to the printers.
“The Census Bureau has started the process of printing the decennial questionnaires without the question,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Tuesday. The Justice Department also confirmed that the question would not appear on the 2020 census in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling which found that Ross had not been forthright when he claimed that adding a citizenship question was necessary to enforce the Voting Rights Act.
The President’s tweet took White House officials by surprise, leaving aides to do little more than refer questions to the same agencies Trump was contradicting, though two administration sources contacted by BeltwayBreakfast suggested that the President may have been mistaken.