NICE TRY

Federal Judge Halts Trump Admin Effort to Stop the 2020 Census Count Early

The changes were widely seen as an effort to ensure that President Trump, and not Joe Biden, had control of drawing new political boundaries.

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from its controversial plan to end the 2020 Census count a month early. In July, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, directed it to speed up counting efforts to end by Sept. 30 instead of the end of October, as originally planned. It was widely seen as an effort to ensure that President Trump is handed results by the end of the year—even if Joe Biden wins the election—so he can control Census figures that will be used to draw thousands of political boundaries nationwide. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh disrupted that plan, saying it would produce inaccurate numbers—particularly on people of color. Koh’s preliminary injunction requires the bureau to keep counting the population through Oct. 31. The Justice Department is expected to appeal the decision.