US President to take executive action on 2020 census, citizenship

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will announce executive action on the 2020 US Census on Thursday, pursuing his fight to include a citizenship question in the decennial population count despite being rebuffed by the Supreme Court.

The executive action is expected to be announced at a news conference, according to three people familiar with Trump’s plan. They declined to detail the action, but indicated it may not be an executive order. The people, who asked not to be identified because the plan isn’t yet public, said details were still fluid. White House officials declined to comment.

Trump announced the news conference — which didn’t appear on his official schedule for Thursday — in a tweet previewing a social media summit at the White House.


Trump “is pushing everyone in the White House and the Department of Justice to find all the various ways he can” move ahead with plans to ask people their citizenship status as part of next year’s Census, US Citizenship and Immigration Services Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli said on Wednesday.