Thread by @marty_lederman

1/ UPDATE on OSG representations w/r/t the census form deadline (h/t @hansilowang):

Just 16 days ago, mere days before the Court was to decide the case, the SG opposed plaintiffs' motion for a partial remand by claiming . . .

supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/1…

@rickhasen @gtconway3d

2/ ... that their contention that the census forms could be finalized "without additional congressional appropriations" as late as October 31 "is unsupported by the record,'" and that "[t]he district court thus correctly found . . .

3/ ... that for all practical purposes, 'the Census Bureau needs to finalize the 2020 questionnaire by June of this year.'” In support of these assertions, the SG cited to a deposition of Census Bureau official John Abowd, ...

justsecurity.org/wp-content/upl…

4/ ... in which Abowd attested, immediately after consulting with the Bureau's Acting Director on the question, that "[w]ith existing resources, June 30th of 2019 is the content lock-down date."

5/ I don't think there's any question that OSG thus represented to the Court that in order to change the form after 06/30, Congress would have to appropriate more funds--that "existing resources" were inadequate. For DOJ to contradict that representation now . . .

6/ ... would (or at least should) significantly undermine the credibility the SG has cultivated with the Court for decades. It wouldn't be a mere mistake--it'd be a clear bait-and-switch. If Barr orders DOJ to do this, at such a potential cost to OSG, ...

7/ ... it'll only confirm how little he cares about the Department's well-being.