Carper Statement on Supreme Court Decision to Block Census Citizenship Question

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), senior Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to block the Trump Administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Decennial Census. Senator Carper has led Democrats in Congress in conducting extensive oversight with regard to the Census. 

“Today we can breathe a sigh of relief for now. The Supreme Court’s decision to block the Trump Administration’s attempt to add a troubling citizenship question to the upcoming census is a temporary victory for this critical count enshrined in our Constitution.

“It has been obvious from day one that these efforts were little more than a brazen political ploy. Just this week, a former adviser to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross confirmed that the Trump Administration sought to add the citizenship question for partisan gain. Earlier this month, disturbing documents belonging to a former Republican operative highlighted a clear electoral advantage for Republicans if a citizenship question were to be added to the census. And even the Trump Administration’s own U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 6.5 million people will not respond, and thus not be counted, if a citizenship question was added. I’m pleased that the majority of the Supreme Court was able to see through the Trump Administration’s contrived explanations and protect this crucial count for the time being.

“But today’s ruling is far from the end of the road. We must continue to be laser-focused on the census to ensure that it is conducted in a timely, unbiased manner and that the Trump Administration does not simply manufacture more excuses to justify the addition of a partisan citizenship question. We cannot take our eye off the ball. The census is far too critical to our economy and our democracy to lose focus now.”