The U.S. Supreme Court will allow the upcoming trial over the Trump administration’s addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census to proceed, the court said late Friday.
The trial is scheduled to begin Monday in federal court in New York City, but the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court this week to put the trial on hold, a request the court denied.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch said they would have granted the Trump administration’s request for a delay.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced in March a citizenship question would be added to the 2020 census in an effort to ensure better enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.
The move prompted a lawsuit, led by New York, from numerous states and cities, which asked the court to stop the Trump administration from including the question on the upcoming census.
The plaintiffs in the case sought to depose Ross and John Gore, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
But last week, the Supreme Court halted Ross’s deposition, approving a request from the Justice Department to shield the Commerce secretary from having to answer questions under oath.
Gore’s deposition, however, was permitted to proceed.
