NEW YORK — A federal judge issued a stinging rebuke Tuesday to government lawyers seeking yet again to delay his ruling over whether it is legal to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
“Enough is enough,” Judge Jesse M. Furman in New York said as he rejected what he said has become a weekly effort by Justice Department lawyers to stop him from ruling on the merits of lawsuits accusing the Commerce Department of improperly adding the question.
He denied what he called the “latest and strangest effort,” a request that he wait to rule after a trial he presided over earlier this month until the Supreme Court hears arguments.
“What makes the motion most puzzling, if not sanctionable, is that they sought and were denied virtually the same relief only weeks ago,” Furman said, noting that he had rejected that request, as did the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.