Most readers may not be aware of it, but Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the supposed billionaire Cabinet member who may have lied through his teeth about his personal wealth[1], has been ordered to testify concerning the addition of citizenship question to the next Census form. This question has been controversial because it’s thought this will frighten many immigrants, legal or not, into not answering the call of the Census, thus lowering resident counts and reducing how many Representatives are allocated to areas that traditionally vote Democratic. The order comes because it’s thought, by some, that Ross may have previously lied to Congress.
The Administration has been fighting this order, and now Steve Benen reports that soon SCOTUS will be taking up the issue.
Yeah, that SCOTUS. The one with the newly confirmed Justice Kavanaugh.
I think this should be an early indicator of Kavanaugh’s attitude towards the Executive Branch. If he votes that Ross is under no obligation to testify, it’ll indicate that he’s quite supine towards his President. (Yep, I used that phraseology entirely on purpose.)
His problem may be his fellow conservatives. I don’t know much about how ideology will play into this decision, so – and maybe I’m the only one ignorant enough to be so – I’m on pins and needles. If it goes 8-1 against him, he’ll just look worse.
But my wild-eyed guess is that it’ll be a 5-4 decision, with Chief Justice Roberts, ever mindful of the legitimacy of the Court, as well as his own legacy, siding with the liberal wing of the Court, requiring Ross to testify.
1 An issue that has never had much importance for me, and, as I age, becomes even less and less important. The multitudinous ways to accumulate wealth, many dishonorable or, at best, technically permitted by an ill-designed economic system, make wealth an exceptionally poor proxy for the measure of a person.
