Judge blocks Justice Dept from changing lawyers in Trump 2020 census case

Judge rejects Justice Dept request to pull lawyers from NY census case

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A federal judge in New York on Tuesday blocked the Department of Justice from changing its entire legal team handling a case on the census citizenship question in federal court in the state.

Judge Jesse Furman found that DOJ's motion did not address a procedural rule requiring them to provide a reason for the attorneys' withdrawal from the case.

Furman, an Obama appointee, ruled in such a way that would allow DOJ to try and withdraw the attorneys again.

Plaintiffs in the New York case had filed a motion late Monday opposing the withdrawal of the DOJ lawyers.

The Justice Department announced late Sunday that it was changing up its entire legal team that handles litigation on the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census. However, officials did not provide a specific reason for doing so, fueling speculation that career DOJ lawyers could have refused to continue working on the case.

That came after President Trump's surprise announcement that his administration would continue to pursue adding a citizenship question to the census, after DOJ initially said otherwise. The Supreme Court ruled last month against its inclusion on the survey for the time being.