Politics
JUST IN: Trump Floats Major Move That Could Doom Democrats In ’26 And Beyond
President Donald Trump stood next to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday, beholding his latest immigration detention facility while salivating at the prospect of an unprecedented political move that he predicted may doom the ability of blue states to deliver enough votes for Democrats in 2026 and beyond.
In Trump’s estimation, the 2020 census was carried out unfairly, part of a deep-state conspiracy that he claims included the rigging of the 2020 election. Before the midterms, he would like to see the U.S. Census Bureau complete a “fair” account of the American population.
“We want to bring our elections back,” Trump said outside of the new “Alligator Alcatraz” complex. “Ron would love it, I would love it…you know, Ron, they include anyone that happens to be in your state,” he said, a reference to the migrants being housed there.
DeSantis, a onetime presidential rival, appeared perfectly attuned to Trump’s message.
“California would lose like five seats if they did a fair census… The Biden census gypped Florida of at least one seat. We only got one seat… Texas should’ve had another one. That could be the difference in the House,” he said.
“I would love for them to re-do the Census for ’26,” added DeSantis. “We’ll redistrict those lines.”
The remarks build on an executive order signed by President Trump on his first day, which removed noncitizens from the census count, a key point of contention between Republicans and Democrats as the latter party relies on heavily populated blue states to attain a majority in the U.S. House.
Control of the census is a constitutional power granted to Congress, but it falls on the executive branch to carry it out. The U.S. Supreme Court has historically sided with interpretations of the 14th Amendment that all persons, regardless of citizenship, must be counted.
If President Trump were to order a new count and direct the Census Bureau to only record citizens in each state, it would almost certainly result in a flurry of lawsuits that makes its way to the Supreme Court, where a majority of conservative justices may be more open to reinterpreting the Founders’ original intent behind the census.
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California, a bastion of Democratic power and the most populous state, is awarded 52 House seats, or more than 10% of the 435 total. There are an estimated 1.8 million illegal immigrants living in the state, while its entire population sits just over 39 million.
The Census Bureau reported that it began its work in January 2020 and completed its count by the fall of that year. If President Trump were to initiate a new census immediately, he would likely have time to complete it unless lawsuits were to somehow delay his ability to apportion a new number of assigned House seats for each state.
However, federal district court rulings would no longer hold the power they did just a week ago following the Supreme Court’s termination of lower courts’ abilities to enforce nationwide injunctions, a critical blockade that would be required to prevent a new census from being completed.
