Donald Trump’s real fireworks may be about to start
As reported earlier by Palmer Report, the Trump administration announced they will not include the citizenship question on the 2020 Census. There was then a hearing in the New York District Court that the Supreme Court had sent the case back to, called on an emergency basis after Trump tweeted that he was going forward with the question. The judge ordered the parties appear on Friday, July 5, 2019, at 2 PM Eastern, to discuss what is reality with this issue.
The fireworks likely will be set off by the judge, given the developments on July 4. Trump and his administration have made comments and warnings that they might go forward with the census question via executive action or executive order. The judge likely will question the Department of Justice attorneys about what they knew, and again ask for clear direction on whether this continues to be an issue or not.
Trump, if he goes forward via some executive action, will be pushing the question of whether we live under the United States Constitution and the framework established by our Founding Fathers in making the courts of our nation, and especially the Supreme Court, the decider of questions of the constitution. Federalist Paper No. 78 makes it clear that the Court is to act as the intermediary between “we the people” and the other branches, and Chief Justice Marshall confirmed that power in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison. If Trump moves forward with an executive action, it will surely be challenged and will appear again before the Supreme Court.
While the Roberts Court has given the Trump administration great deference in his activities to date, and gave him an out in this census question, it seems unlikely that the Court, with no valid basis given for including the question, would support Trump. We might see some fireworks in New York today and in the coming weeks, not celebrating the nation’s independence, but making it clear whether the independence of the judiciary and the word of the Article III courts and the Supreme Court mean anything.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.