--- title: DOJ: 'Instructed' by Trump to Put Citizen Question on Census description: Trump’s announcement that he wants to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census surprised one of the Department of Justice’s own lawyers. canonical: https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-04T00:59:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:53:24.712Z article:section: Politics og:title: Department of Justice Says It Was 'Instructed' by President Trump to Explore Ways to Put Citizenship Question on the Census og:description: “The tweet this morning was the first I had heard of the President’s position on this issue” og:url: https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb200f670510d6359/6989ff8b16d884094bc36a72/donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President-Donald-Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Department of Justice Says It Was 'Instructed' by President Trump to Explore Ways to Put Citizenship Question on the Census twitter:description: “The tweet this morning was the first I had heard of the President’s position on this issue” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb200f670510d6359/6989ff8b16d884094bc36a72/donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:44 video:published: 2018-03-28 section: politics topics: census, citizenship question, voting rights, Voting Rights Act, Department of Justice, voter protection, blue states, government data genre: interview, news clip tones: formal, defensive, questioning emotions: confidence (medium), skepticism (medium), concern (low) sentiment: neutral audience: voters, policymakers, political news readers, civil rights observers organizations: Department of Justice content_suitability: politics [00:00-00:44] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Justice Department Says It Was 'Instructed' by President Trump to Find Way to Put Citizenship Question on Census > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=774b3891-c22d-40e3-ad92-956a9a9ffde0&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: White House Defends 'Citizenship' Question In New Census [Watch (HLS stream): White House Defends 'Citizenship' Question In New Census](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KeFvjdUc.m3u8) (0:44)  _Published 2018-03-28. White House Defends 'Citizenship' Question In New Census_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary A brief clip discusses the inclusion of a citizenship question in the census. The speaker says the question has appeared on the census since 1965, except in 2010, and argues it provides data needed by the Department of Justice to protect voters and comply with the Voting Rights Act. An interviewer raises concern that the question will disproportionately affect blue states, and the speaker responds that the information will help determine the individuals in the country and allow compliance with laws and procedures. ## Key points - The citizenship question has been included on the census since 1965, with the exception of 2010 when it was removed. (00:00) - The speaker argues the question provides data necessary for the Department of Justice to protect voters. (00:03) - The data is described as helping the government better comply with the Voting Rights Act. (00:18) - The interviewer suggests the question will disproportionately affect blue states. (00:23) - The interviewer asks the speaker whether they acknowledge this effect when discussing voting rights. (00:26) - The speaker says the census will determine the individuals in the country and provide information for compliance with laws and procedures. (00:32) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:18] Census citizenship question history and purpose. The speaker notes the question's past inclusion and says it provides data for voter protection and Voting Rights Act compliance. - [00:18 to 00:26] Questioning the impact on blue states. The interviewer raises the concern that the question will disproportionately affect blue states. - [00:26 to 00:44] Speaker's response on census information. The speaker responds that the census provides information needed to comply with laws and procedures. ## Key quotes - [00:00] speaker: "This is a question that's being included in every senses" - [00:11] speaker: "provided data that's necessary. For the Department of" - [00:18] speaker: "us better comply with the Voting Rights Act" - [00:23] interviewer: "there's a sense that utimately this is gonna disproportionately affect blue states." - [00:32] speaker: "I think that it is going to determine the individuals in our" ## Questions this video answers - Why is the citizenship question being included in the census? [00:03] - Does the Department of Justice need this data to protect voters? [00:11] - How does the census information help with compliance with the Voting Rights Act? [00:18] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-00:44]: Clip concerns a contested government policy on the census and its political effects on states.  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 4, 2019 12:59 AM UTC Trump Says He Is Considering Issuing an Executive Order On Census Citizenship Question  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 4, 2019 12:59 AM UTC President Donald Trump’s Wednesday morning announcement that he still aimed to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, despite a serious Supreme Court setback, appears to coincide with the Department of Justice being “instructed” to find a way to include it. In a [tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1146435093491277824), the President contradicted his own Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice, which [had confirmed on Tuesday night](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/02/census-wont-include-citizenship-question-on-2020-questionnaire-1395933) that the Census will not include a question about citizenship. Trump wrote that “news reports” announcing the exclusion of the question were “FAKE” and that the question is “absolutely moving forward.” The President’s tweet appears to have confused even Joshua Gardner, special counsel for the United States Department of Justice. Gardner admitted in Federal Court in Maryland on Wednesday that he had previously testified that the census wouldn’t include the question because he wasn’t aware of the President’s plans. “The tweet this morning was the first I had heard of the President’s position on this issue, just like the plaintiffs and your honor,” Gardner said, according to a [transcript of the proceedings](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M3Y6vj3QlQpSdlYcCdq3BkbnnWIrEPlf/view). “I do not have a deeper understanding of what that means at this juncture other than what the President has tweeted. But, obviously, as you can imagine, I am doing my absolute best to figure out what’s going on.” The Trump administration has made a serious push to include a question about citizenship status in the census, arguing that the provision would make it easier to enforce the voting rights act. The Supreme Court appeared to deal a major blow to the Trump administration’s plans last week, when it ruled that the Justice Department’s reasons for including the question seemed “contrived.” [Advocates](https://time.com/5217763/census-citizenship-question-immigration/), including experts from the [Census Bureau itself](https://www2.census.gov/ces/wp/2018/CES-WP-18-38.pdf), have warned that including the question could lead to an undercount of immigrant families, especially Hispanic people, who tend to vote for Democrats. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross [announced Tuesday](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/02/census-wont-include-citizenship-question-on-2020-questionnaire-1395933) that he respected the Court’s decision, and that the Census Bureau had started printing the Census without the question. However, the Department of Justice has now been “instructed” to see if there’s a way for the question to go forward, Joseph Hunt, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, said during the Wednesday proceedings. The judge overseeing the court, Hon. George J. Hazel, ordered the U.S. government to come up with a final decision on the citizenship question by Friday afternoon. Hazel said that while he respected Gardner’s integrity, he would expect any other lawyer to understand the official position of the people he represented. “If you were Facebook and an attorney for Facebook told me one thing, and then I read a press release from Mark Zuckerberg telling me something else, I would be demanding that Mark Zuckerberg appear in court with you the next time because I would be saying I don’t think you speak for your client anymore,” Hazel said. The back-and-forth about the citizenship question also displeased the plaintiffs in the case. Plaintiff Denise Hulett asked Hazel to ensure that the U.S. government doesn’t further confuse the American people about the citizenship question. “This administration’s flagrant disregard of court orders is appalling, and will result in the same kind of misinformation that leads our communities to be reluctant to participate in the census, at a time when the Census Bureau should be actively encouraging everyone’s full participation,” she said in a later statement. “The government has an obligation to counter the President’s outlandish statements.” ## Transcript [00:00] This is a question that's being included in every senses [00:03] since 1965 with the exception 2010 when [00:08] it was removed. This is we've contained this question that's [00:11] provided data that's necessary. For the Department of [00:14] Justice to protect voters and specifically to help [00:18] us better comply with the Voting Rights Act, which is [00:21] something that is important and a part of this process. But [00:23] there's a sense that utimately this is gonna [00:26] disproportionately affect blue states. Do you acknowledge [00:28] as much, when you talk about voting rights? I think that it is [00:32] going to determine the individuals in our [00:36] country and provide Information that allows us to comply [00:40] with our own laws and with our own procedures. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/"},"headline":"Justice Department Says It Was 'Instructed' by President Trump to Find Way to Put Citizenship Question on Census","datePublished":"2019-07-04T00:59:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:53:24.712Z","description":"“The tweet this morning was the first I had heard of the President’s position on this issue”","url":"https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/","keywords":["Department of Justice","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb200f670510d6359/6989ff8b16d884094bc36a72/donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Law","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-law/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb200f670510d6359/6989ff8b16d884094bc36a72/donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President-Donald-Trump","caption":"President Donald Trump Returns To The White House After Trip Abroad","creditText":"Tasos Katopodis—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/department-of-justice/","name":"Department of Justice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/","name":"Justice Department Says It Was 'Instructed' by President Trump to Find Way to Put Citizenship Question on Census"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Says He Is Considering Issuing an Executive Order On Census Citizenship Question","description":"Trump Says He Is Considering Issuing an Executive Order On Census Citizenship Question","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UsijudJf/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-07-05T17:01:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UsijudJf.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/","duration":"PT12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"White House Defends 'Citizenship' Question In New Census","description":"White House Defends 'Citizenship' Question In New Census","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KeFvjdUc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-03-28T00:38:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KeFvjdUc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/","duration":"PT44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5620274/trump-census-citizenship-question-department-of-justice/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```