The Trump administration can temporarily stop counting the 2020 census.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the administration’s request for it to intervene after a lower court ordered the Census Bureau to continue efforts until Oct. 31 to ensure an accurate count. Only Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted her dissent with the court’s order.
The census is used to determine representation in Congress and calculate the distribution of billions in federal funds.
The Justice Department said continuing until the end of the month would make it impossible for the bureau to meet the Dec. 31 statutory deadline to send the tabulated data to the White House.
It also noted that the bureau has taken steps to ensure that the census is accurate, including increasing the number of worker hours in the previous months.
The Supreme Court is considering a separate appeal from the administration over its efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from from the population numbers in relation to apportionment of representatives.
The case is Ross v. National Urban League, U.S., No. 20A62.
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