President Donald Trump proposed conducting a new census as he schemes to keep Republicans in the congressional majorities, but experts agree the plan is plainly unconstitutional.
The president is already pushing for Republican-led states to redraw their congressional districts at mid-decade to favor Republicans in next year's midterm elections, and now he wants the Commerce Department to organize a census five years earlier than what's stipulated by law, wrote MSNBC's Steve Benen.
"The language of the U.S. Constitution is unambiguous when it comes to the decennial census: The government is responsible for counting 'all persons' in the United States as part of a process that’s conducted every 'ten years,'" Benen wrote. "There are no asterisks. There is no fine print. The first census was in 1790, and the count has been conducted every 10 years since, including one in 2020."
The president's plan for a mid-decade census violates the timing set our by the founding document, and he also wants to exclude "people who are in our County illegally," which violates the stipulation that "all persons" in the U.S. must be counted – and the idea seems to have originated on the GOP fringes with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
"The idea was quickly embraced by assorted far-right partisans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and now the president himself," Benen wrote.
"As for the legality of such a move, there’s no reason to think such an effort would pass constitutional muster — not only because the plan would deliberately exclude people living on American soil, but also because there’s no legal mechanism to allow for a mid-decade process," the columnist added.
It's not clear whether Trump's proposal was a passing thought that will get ignored by his aides, or if it's something that might actually be carried out – to the tune of $15 billion or more – but Benen said the idea shows how concerned Republicans are about their chances next year.
"The president and his party are so desperate to maintain power at all costs, they are exploring every possible avenue to rig the political process so that Republicans can’t lose, even if voters want them to," Benen wrote.