...handing a legal victory to critics who accused the Trump administration of trying to turn the census into a tool to advance Republican political fortunes.

...the Justice Department turned over documents suggesting that its officials have considered the possibility of census data being shared with law enforcement. That would be lawless. But even raising the possibility will fan fears that President Trump’s federal government cannot be trusted to keep individual responses confidential.

The court’s action makes it unlikely that Ross will have to give a deposition in the case but allows the suit to go forward, at least temporarily.

Ross has shifted his explanation for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, saying he now recalls discussing it with Stephen K. Bannon

...about adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census

A dispute over a court-ordered deposition of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross headed back to the Supreme Court on Tuesday night

...arguing that the decision to add a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census violates the U.S. Constitution.

Preparations for the count already are complicated by a sea change in the census itself: For the first time, it will be conducted largely online instead of by mail.

The 2020 count might be put in the hands of an inexperienced professor who wrote that 'Competitive Elections are Bad for America.'

...leaving the agency leaderless at a time when it faces a crisis over funding for the 2020 decennial count of the U.S. population and beyond.

“We could be headed for a train wreck if the Census Bureau doesn't get the resources it needs."

Republican redistricting guaranteed the GOP a near-lock on the House after the 2010 Census — but it also created a nearly ungovernable caucus. They gerrymandered themselves into this predicament.