Clusterfuck

After Donald Trump vowed to delay the census next year, something he lawfully cannot do, the Department of Justice and Department of Commerce both announced on Tuesday that it was printing the census forms after all without the controversial citizenship question that was the subject of a recent Supreme Court case, three federal lawsuits that Trump lost, and an extended presidential temper tantrum.

And then less than a day later, Trump insisted the question would still be on the census, even though two different departments of his own administration said the opposite. White House staffers, however, revealed to the media cannot find a way to legally do what he wants (details here).

The Supreme Court plus three federal courts have said the controversial question may not be included on the census. In one of those federal suits, the judge has ordered the Justice Department to confirm by tomorrow afternoon that the question will not be on the census.

Per the New York Times article linked above "regulatory and legal experts largely agree that the administration’s chances of retaining the question were exceedingly dim in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to block it."

Trump's likely only recourse if he doesn't cave is to openly defy the Supreme Court. But that would require a whole lot of civil servants to go along with that defiance, which doesn't seem likely.

The citizenship question is purely politically motivated to suppress Democratic votes and has no valid inclusion in the census. And the more Trump whines about it, the more he keeps underscoring that it's a political stunt meant for partisan gain and not actually necessary.