White House To Reveal Legal Approach For Census Citizenship Question

The Trump administration will make a decision in "the next day or two" on its legal approach to getting a citizenship question on the 2020 census, according to U.S. Attorney General William Barr. 

"We've been considering all the options, and I've been in constant discussions with the president ever since the Supreme Court decision came down, and I think over the next day or two, you'll see what approach we're taking. And I think it does provide a pathway for getting the question on the census," Barr said. 

President Donald Trump has said the options he's considering include an executive order or tacking the question onto the census as part of an addendum at a later date. 

"We are moving forward. We have a couple of avenues, and our attorney general is doing a fantastic job in many ways, and I think he's got it under control," the president said Sunday. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the Trump administration can't add a citizenship question to the 2020 census unless it provides a valid reason the question is needed. The addition had also been blocked multiple times in federal court. 

At issue was whether the question would violate the constitutional rights of immigrants and certain people of color. The federal government had argued the question would help the Justice Department better enforce the Voting Rights Act. But critics argued that the question would've curbed census participation by those groups, hurting the report's accuracy.    

On Sunday, a DOJ spokeswoman said the agency was shaking up the team of lawyers representing the Trump administration in its ongoing legal effort on the issue. 

The Census Bureau has already started printing the 2020 census forms without the citizenship question. 

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.