Everyone thinks the census must be done every 10 years, but the census clause in the Constitution reads:
“The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.”
Doesn’t that suggest that 10 years is a maximum and not a fixed term, that the census must be conducted at least every 10 years?
So that if a census with a citizenship question is included now, if in 2020, fate willing, we have a Democratic President, we can simply do it again.
Has any court ruled on this issue?