Trump Orders Federal Departments & Agencies to Share Citizenship Data

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on President Donald Trump and the issue of adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census (all times local):

5:45 p.m.

President Donald Trump is abandoning his effort to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

Instead, Trump says he’s ordering every federal department and agency to provide the Commerce Department with all records it requests pertaining to the number of citizens and noncitizens in the country.

Trump says he will sign an executive order to put this new plan into effect “immediately.”

Trump’s plan to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census was thwarted by a recent Supreme Court ruling on legal challenges to the effort.

3:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump is expected to drop his bid to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census. That’s according to House Republicans aide. Trump will instead pursue other avenues for asking the question after the Supreme Court blocked his efforts, according to a current and former administration official familiar with the plans.

Trump tweeted Thursday morning that he will be holding a news conference on the subject. A senior administration official said the president would be announcing new executive action as part of the effort but did not elaborate.

Trump said last week that he was “very seriously” considering an executive order to try to force the citizenship question’s inclusion.

But the government has already begun the lengthy and expensive process of printing the census questionnaire without the question on citizenship.

2:20 p.m.

Opponents of having a citizenship question on the 2020 census say they’ll return to court to fight President Donald Trump’s push to add the controversial query.

Trump is expected to announce new executive action Thursday, after last month’s Supreme Court ruling forbidding the administration from asking about citizenship, at least temporarily.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s Dale Ho says the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts are “unlawful.” The ACLU represents plaintiffs in the census case in New York.

The head of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Thomas Saenz, says census officials “cannot defy those court orders simply because Donald Trump wants them to do so.” The fund represents plaintiffs in Maryland.

7:15 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he’ll hold a news conference Thursday to talk about the 2020 census and his push to include a question on citizenship.

A Supreme Court ruling barred the question for now. But Trump has said he may issue an executive order or memorandum to try to force the issue.

An executive order would not, by itself, override court rulings blocking the question. But such a move could give administration lawyers a new basis to try to convince federal courts the question could be included.

Trump tweeted Thursday he will hold the news conference following a White House social media summit.