Trump To End Census Fight, Order New Citizenship Survey

President Trump on Thursday is expected to end his push to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census and instead order the Commerce Department to survey Americans about their citizenship status another way, ABC News reported Thursday afternoon, citing multiple sources familiar with the move.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1234764

Called it!

Still won’t help Barr. He’s gonna be held in contempt.

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And what purpose does “citizenship data” serve?

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I pray they don’t let off the gas on that. Barr and Ross need to be smacked and smacked and smacked.

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I’ll believe it when I see it.

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A vitriolic hue and cry from Trump’s posse (Hannity, Ingraham, Coulter, Limbaugh, et al) might goad him into double-doubling down and backtracking on even this. The fricking knucklehead is liable to come out and demand a new printing of the questionnaire a week before the mailing.

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Face saving. He can call it a win and say he didn’t back down, even though it can’t be used for redistricting, the real reason for the whole fiasco.

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He’ll be askin’ for another $5bn to run the household survey for citizenship. It won’t be the “Census”. It’ll be …uh…just a question.

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Please cue up the “Flipper” theme song…

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This whole thing has been like inflating a balloon and then imitating farts as the air goes out.

Sophomoric, and ultimately pointless.

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It’ll inform him which “Sanctuary states” to punish.*

*Not snark.

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The survey will actually include a second question. “On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being ‘beautiful’ and 10 being ‘unbelievably beautiful,’ how good a job is President Trump doing?”

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Barr has so many dumpster fires already going on. He probably told trump that the Epstein matter should take precedence. This week, anyway…

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The only reason Trump is backing off is because Barr told him he couldn’t deliver. That could be the beginning of a downward slide for Trump where he has a weaker political foundation. If Barr can’t deliver for him, it means he can’t outrun the law. If he can’t outrun the law, he won’t outrun the voters. If he can’t outrun the law or the voters, he’ll start to lose GOP support. You could see the impact on an issue like immigration, where GOPers might say they can’t support kids in cages and they force Miller out.

Given how strong the Dem Senate field is starting to look (I could see Dems winning as many as 7 seats), it is possible we could use Trump’s weakness and the strength of our position in the Senate races to force Miller out. Take Miller out and Trump’s immigration policy pretty much crumbles. If Trump crumbles on immigration, there’s no rationale for anyone to vote for him.

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Discobot will be needing a note from your doctor.

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Yes. I do firmly believe that when you’re fighting an evil and corrupt gov’t, everything you do matters, even the symbolic things. I think anything that makes Barr think twice is a big net plus for Team Blue.

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It is essential for Trump’s “final solution” to the immigration “problem.”

Be very, very wary.

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I will not believe this until I hear him say the words that he will end the census/citizenship question. The census is the vehicle that determines how many house seats are given and taken away.

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So much winning. Now full speed ahead on nailing Barr and Ross.

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How does face saving work when one is two-faced???

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