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A high-ranking Justice Department lawyer told a federal judge on Wednesday that the Trump administration has not abandoned efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census after all, just one day after the Census Bureau said it would start the process of printing the questionnaire without the query.
Assistant Attorney General Joseph Hunt said there may yet be "a legally available path" under last week's Supreme Court decision that blocked the question, at least temporarily. The Supreme Court left open the possibility that additional arguments could change its mind.
Hunt made his comments on a conference call with U.S. District Court Judge George Hazel Wednesday afternoon, following a tweet from President Trump insisting that efforts to include the citizenship question would proceed in earnest. Hazel said on the call that he had seen the tweet and wanted answers, and for the situation to be resolved by Friday afternoon.