NBC News
July 10, 2019
A federal judge refused to let Justice Department lawyers withdraw from a dispute over the citizenship question on the 2020 census form, in a case that continues after the Supreme Court’s ruling in late June.
Eleven lawyers from the DOJ asked Judge Jesse Furman of the U.S. district court for the Southern District of New York on Monday for permission to step down from representing the government in the dispute. Attorney General William Barr has said that given the department’s decision to press ahead on the issue, “I can understand if they’re not interested in participating in this phase.”
DOJ officials said privately that Barr acted before the lawyers could officially object to further work on the matter.