Thread by @tomTMwolf

BREAKING: Trump is trying to rush the #2020Census results out the door on Dec. 31, but we’re not going to let him.

This morning, we launched the next phase in our push to save the census. Read the full complaint here: brennancenter.org/sites/default/….

Details in the🧵👇 @BrennanCenter

The "we": the fearless and relentless coalition of
@BrennanCenter @LawyersComm @lathamwatkins @NatUrbanLeague @LWV @BAJItweet @NAACP @CityAttorneyLA @sliccardo @chicago @CountyofLA @GRIC_Official and the Navajo Nation

Back in April, when the covid pandemic erupted across the country, the Census Bureau’s experts put forward a plan to ensure that everyone got counted AND stayed safe and healthy.

Under this COVID-19 Plan, the Bureau was supposed to spend 11.5 weeks door-knocking and then 6 MONTHS processing all the census data that it got.

The Bureau acted under that plan until August 3, when Commerce Secretary Ross and Bureau Director Dillingham announced, abruptly and without reasons, that they were cutting the count short—stopping door-knocking (at least) a month early and cutting processing down to 2.5 months.

We blocked the first part of their plan in large part: The Bureau set a Sept. 30 end date for door-knocking, but made clear that counting could start shutting down as early as Sept. 11.

Our lawsuit kept counting going until OCTOBER 15 through a string of victories in the district and appellate courts.

https://twitter.com/tomTMwolf/status/1312010008108859393?s=20

The only thing that stopped us from going all the way to October 31 was an ill-advised ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court’s shadow docket. (Read more about the shadow docket here: nytimes.com/2020/10/26/us/…)

Now, we’re back to ensure that the Bureau gets the full time it has long said it needed to process the data: that is, transform data for 150+ MILLION housing units into reliable, accurate results, by making sure everyone gets counted once, only once, and in the right place.

The census is complex, but our theory of the case is simple: The Constitution owes us all a full, fair, and accurate count. The Bureau laid out a plan to get us just that. And everyone—including President Trump himself—was fine with it FOR MONTHS.

But then Pres. Trump decided he wanted to manipulate the count to exclude undocumented people, and he could lose the opportunity to do so if he didn’t get the numbers by December 31. Suddenly, the census timeline got crunched in ways that will make an accurate count impossible.

That’s putting a political agenda ahead of the Constitution. We all deserve better. And I mean *all*--regardless of your race, ethnicity, or citizenship status, we need a full, fair, and accurate count of EVERYONE.

What we want is also simple: To let the Census Bureau do the work it has always said it needed to do, on the timetable the Bureau has always said it needs to do it. In other words, to the let the Constitution—not anti-immigrant agendas or political chicanery—guide the census.

Read more about the case here: brennancenter.org/our-work/analy…

Delve into key case filings here: brennancenter.org/our-work/court…

And learn more about the Brennan Center’s Census Project here: brennancenter.org/issues/gerryma…