First, the Trump administration told courts, under oath, it only wanted to ask about citizenship status in the U.S. Census to aid enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.
That pretext blew up in the government's face last week. In a unanimous Supreme Court ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, "the evidence tells a story that does not match the Secretary's (Commerce head Wilbur Ross's) explanation for his decision."
That's polite legalese for "You lied to the courts. Your real purpose, demonstrated repeatedly, was to depress the count of immigrant-rich states."
Now, as courts await a new rationale _ a ridiculous exercise, given that the true reason for the question has already been well established _ the president himself has dug his lawyers still deeper in the hole.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Trump tried to make the case for the citizenship question by saying, "No. 1, you need it for districting." Which is to say, to determine how many representatives each state gets in the U.S. House, and how those intrastate lines are drawn.
This claim is contrary to what the administration has been asserting in court.
It is opponents of adding the question, not supporters, who have raised the specter of district lines drawn based not on "the whole number of free persons," as stated in the Constitution, but only on the count of citizens.
Trump, while dangling the possibility of subverting the nation's highest court via executive order, has just helped confirm their worst suspicions. And, we hope, helped doom his brazen attempt to weaponize the decennial count.
