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Trump Obstructing Census: Time to Impeach?

Article 1 Section 2 of the United States Constitution, as amended by Amendment XIV Section 2, requires that we count heads every ten years:

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed…. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct [U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, as amended by Amendment XIV].

The Census is fundamental to carrying out Constitutional requirements:

The Census Clause “reflects several important constitutional determinations: that comparative state political power in the House would reflect comparative population, not comparative wealth; that comparative power would shift every 10 years to reflect population changes; that federal tax authority would rest upon the same base; and that Congress, not the states, would determine the manner of conducting the census” [Legal Information Institute, “The Census Requirement,” Cornell Law School, retrieved 2019.07.02].

Counting everyone in America isn’t something one just rolls out of bed and starts doing on April 1. It takes planning:

“The census schedule is unforgiving and immutable and it revolves around a day that is set in law for counting the population as of April 1,’’ she said. “Every minute detail of census operations must be carried out according to plan.”

“It cannot change the schedule. It either starts the census on time as planned or it doesn’t take a census next year and that would trigger a Constitutional crisis,” she said.

Jeri Green of the National Urban League noted the logistical challenges of a potential delay. Green said census officials told members of the census advisory group that the Census Bureau will print 1.5 billion pieces of paper, not only questionnaires but guides and other material [Nicholas Wu, Richard Wolf, and Deborah Barfield Berry, “Trump Says He Asked Lawyers If Census Could Be Delayed After Supreme Court Decision on Citizenship Question,” USA Today, 2019.06.27].

Trump waves off Constitutional mandate
Trump waves off Constitutional mandate

Donald Trump has failed to order the printing of Census forms to begin on time:

The Trump administration appears to have missed its own deadline Monday to start the printing of paper forms and other mailings that will play a key role in next year’s constitutionally mandated head count of every person living in the U.S.

As of Monday evening, the 2020 census materials did not appear to have been officially approved by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for printing, according to a website tracking OMB’s review process.

In another sign that production has not begun, Justice Department attorneys told a federal judge in Maryland on Monday that the administration has not reached a final decision on whether it will try to make another case in court for adding a hotly contested citizenship question to census forms [Hansi Lo Wang, “Trump Administration’s Delay in Census Printing Sets up Count’s ‘Biggest Risk’,” NPR: Morning Edition, 2019.07.02].

Donald Trump is obstructing the execution of a basic government function mandated by the Constitution. In delaying the Census, Donald Trump is violating his oath to “faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States… and preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

If you’re writing articles of impeachment, place obstruction of the Census at #1.

Update 2019.07.03 05:59 CDT: Evidently reading this blog and its impeccable legal reading, the White House decided to avoid a slam-dunk case for impeachment and ordered the printer to begin running Census forms without the citizenship question. But Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland notes the Trump Administration already did plenty of damage with its effort to bias the Census:

“The Trump Administration put our country through more than a year of wasted time and squandered resources—all in the service of an illegal attempt to add a discriminatory question based on a pretext,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who chairs the committee, in a statement released Tuesday. “Now they need to direct all their attention to the nuts and bolts of putting on the Census next year.”

Cummings’ statement then turned back to his committee’s investigation, noting that Ross and Attorney General William Barr “must now turn over” complete versions of all the internal documents about the question that lawmakers have requested [Hansi Lo Wang, “Trump Administration to Print 2020 Census Without Citizenship Question,” NPR: All Things Considered, 2019.07.02].

26 Comments

  1. John Dale 2019-07-02 13:45

    Trump is not obstructing census. He has the right to wait for SCOTUS to hear the case again, even though Roberts’ opinion was really stilly. POTUS determines the contents of the census. It’s simple. Citizenship question is common sense. People flooding here illegally is the real issue, not the census. Illegal immigration is what the fight is all about. One side wants lawless immigration, the other side does not. One side facilitates illegal immigration, the other side is trying to stop it and take account. It’s a war. The gloves are off, and I agree with Trump that we should allow that question on the census. The obstruction of Presidential duties is offensive to me no matter which side is doing it.

  2. Debbo 2019-07-02 15:27

    “In delaying the Census, Donald Trump is violating his oath to “faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States… and preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

    What? Again?

    Johnny, just about every word of your comment is pure, partisan BS, but the rest of it is not too bad.

  3. mike from iowa 2019-07-02 15:58

    . People flooding here illegally is the real issue, not the census. Illegal immigration is what the fight is all about. One side wants lawless immigration, the other side does not. One side facilitates illegal immigration, the other side is trying to stop it and take account. It’s a war.

    Total, unadulterated bull-right wing talking points. The census question was designed solely to favor wingnut party and it was only because the guy who wrote the damn thing left a paper trail and Drumpf and crew lied about it. Roberts pretty much had to vote against it and basically suggested not to leave a paper trail of evidence behind the next time.

  4. Roger Cornelius 2019-07-02 16:00

    Trump obviously hasn’t read the Constitution and doesn’t understand that it applies to him.
    Why does he want a do over?
    Trump gladly accepted the SCOTUS ruling on Gerrymandering.

  5. Roger Cornelius 2019-07-02 16:08

    The Justice Dept. just informed plaintiffs that the Census forms will be printed without citizenship question.

  6. Roger Cornelius 2019-07-02 16:49

    The Trump Administration concedes defeat and will allow the printing of Census forms. – CNN

  7. jerry 2019-07-02 18:22

    As a gerrymandering trump supporter, John Dale is right. Republicans are on the record of why they want the question in “it hurts Democrats”. Pretty simple stuff. It isn’t that it hurts this country, it’s because it hurts a political party. That’s not the way a Democracy works. Read up on it. trump is wrong…again.

  8. jerry 2019-07-02 18:25

    Corruption within the GOP? Who would’ve thunk it. Great read on how dirty this crime organization really is.

    “The gerrymandering expert who was revealed to be behind the push to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census — on the premise that it would help Republicans and “non-Hispanic whites” — was paid millions by the Republican National Committee until his death last year.

    After Thomas Hofeller passed away last summer, his daughter discovered files on his hard drive revealing that he authored a study showing that a census citizenship question would help Republican gerrymandering. He pushed the Trump administration to add the question to the 2020 census. After Hofeller’s previously unreported role in the census issue was revealed, Mother Jones found Federal Election Commission filings showing that the Republican Party had paid him more than $2 million for his work.”
    https://www.salon.com/2019/06/07/gop-paid-millions-to-operative-who-pushed-census-question-aimed-to-help-whites/

  9. Porter Lansing 2019-07-02 18:40

    Trump wouldn’t concede the citizenship question unless he knew he could have his Army of core followers volunteer to count the forms and skew the results any way he chooses.
    PS … This week Trump Administration enacted new rules at the IRS which make billionaire tax cheating easy peasy.
    America would be a better place without a compulsive liar, fraud, and sex criminal in charge.

  10. jerry 2019-07-02 20:40

    trump obstructing funds for Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore and the rest of the National Parks for his fascist parade in Washington.

    “Trump administration officials have consistently refused to say how much taxpayers will have to pay for the expanded celebration on the Mall this year, which the president has dubbed “Salute to America.” The two individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed the transfer of the Park Service funds Tuesday.

    The diversion of the park fees represents just a fraction of the extra costs the government faces as a result the event, which also includes expansive displays of military hardware, flyovers by an array of jets including Air Force One, the deployment of tanks on the Mall and an extended pyrotechnics display. By comparison, according to former Park Service deputy director Denis P. Galvin, the entire Fourth of July celebration on the Mall typically costs the agency about $2 million.” Washington Post 07.02.2019

    Tourism in South Dakota is so yesterday. Let the tourists poo in the parking lots and step in it, republicans could care less.

  11. Debbo 2019-07-02 20:45

    Fascist Flop gets his military parade just like his murderous dictator heroes.

  12. Roger Cornelius 2019-07-02 21:32

    July 4th is a good day for a riot.

  13. o 2019-07-02 22:53

    Even a stacked Supreme Court rejected this action by the President; now if only the Democratic House would exercise its check on the Executive branch, the US would be better off.

  14. Porter Lansing 2019-07-02 22:54

    49 Years Ago: Native Activists Occupied Mount Rushmore to Protest Treaty Violations
    In 1970, 23 Native activists scaled the presidential monument and renamed it “Crazy Horse Mountain” in protest of the U.S. government’s control of land it previously granted to the Sioux.
    *Many of us SD ex-pats went up to the Hills in ’76 in hopes Jefferson’s nose would get blown off by Indian activists. Didn’t happen but it makes a good story every 4th.
    “Remember, remember 5th November…”

  15. o 2019-07-02 23:00

    John Dale; “One side facilitates illegal immigration, the other side is trying to stop it and take account.”

    Is the side hiring undocumented immigrants to undercut higher priced US workers the side “facilitating illegal immigration?” Is the side not holding businesses (like Mar-A-Lago) accountable the side you refer to as “facilitating illegal immigration?”

  16. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-07-03 06:35

    John, the forms were to be printed Monday. Trump blocked their printing. That’s obstructing the Census. His advisors yesterday must have persuaded him that he was obstructing a Constitutional function, and he stopped that obstruction.

  17. mike from iowa 2019-07-03 08:00

    Drumpf is the new “OJ”…. obstruction of justice.

    Since the court is in summer recess, the earliest they could schedule a hearing on this case would be in October when they reconvene. I don’t think it is on the docket and I am not sure it will be considered for the next term.

  18. bearcreekbat 2019-07-03 11:24

    John Dale’s comment misrepresents the language of Constitution. As Cory quotes, the controlling constitutional language regarding the census reads that the

    The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct [my emphasis added]

    The Census language of the Consitution neither mentions the POTUS nor grants the POTUS any authority to “determine the contents” of the Census. Congress, rather than the POTUS, is explicitly tasked with enacting laws to decide the contents of the Census. Thus Dale has either made a factual error due to his inability to recognize Trumpist propaganda or is intentionally trying to spread such propaganda by misrepresenting the powers of Trump.

  19. Porter Lansing 2019-07-03 11:41

    Putin’s got his credentials in place to hack our census. Think Trump helped him? Of course he did.
    NYTimes today -What the census bureau didn’t realize — until an audit last year — was that there was an unsecured door to sensitive data left open. Access credentials for an account with virtually unlimited privileges had been lost, potentially allowing a hacker to view, alter or delete information collected during recent field tests.
    The Republican controlled Census Bureau claims that it has closed off this vulnerability and that no information was compromised. But the discovery of the problem highlights the myriad risks facing next year’s all-important head count.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/us/2020-census-digital.html

  20. Porter Lansing 2019-07-03 17:35

    T.J.I. (this just in): Richard (Dick) Tater “Fake News” Himself *details at eleven

  21. o 2019-07-03 22:42

    What was that – 19 hours between the Trump administration saying they were dropping the citizenship question and the President saying he was going ahead with it?

  22. leslie 2019-07-03 22:55

    Elijah Cummings is a giant in the hall of great great men!

    Dale, your airplay on this blog is excessive, and uninformed. When i waste time reading you. Go spout propaganda elsewhere.

  23. mike from iowa 2019-07-04 19:36

    On a sad Off Topic note, MAD Magazine Is Basically Dead.

    MAD mag to cease publication.

  24. grudznick 2019-07-04 20:33

    Mr. mike, you may be from Iowa, but you and I can collectively mourn those subversive bastards who used to make cartoons in the magazine and the spy vs. the other spy thing.

Comments are closed.