The census citizenship question fight is back on

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Quick Fix

— The citizenship question is back from the dead: The Department of Justice is looking for ways to include it on the 2020 census and has assembled a new team of attorneys, after saying earlier last week that printing has commenced without it.


— With just over a week to go until qualification closes for the July Democratic presidential primary debates, 21 candidates have met the DNC’s thresholds — but the DNC has said it’ll limit participation to 20 debaters.

— House Democrats are fretting primary challenges from the left, while EMILY’s List said it is looking to back a challenger to a Texas House Democrat.

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Days until the Mississippi gubernatorial primary election: 28

Days until the NC-03 and NC-09 general elections: 64

Days until the Louisiana gubernatorial primary election: 96

Days until the Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia general elections: 120

Days until the 2020 election: 484

TopLine

THE CITIZENSHIP QUESTION — The fight over including a citizenship question on the 2020 census is back. The Department of Justice and the Commerce Department seemingly gave up on including a question about citizenship on the 2020 census on Tuesday— but then the president tweeted.

“The News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE!” President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday. “We are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question.”

This set off an unexpected scramble across the administration, ultimately resulting with Department of Justice lawyers telling a federal judge that they are still looking for ways to include the question on the census (NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang has more on the filing), with that case proceeding immediately.

The Trump administration would need to come up with another reason for including the citizenship question on the census after the Supreme Court said that the administration’s stated plans to use the question to better enforce the Voting Rights Act was “contrived.” The options, Trump said last Friday, include a possible executive order from the president. The Department of Justice is also swapping the lawyers representing the government in cases involving the census, The Washington Post’s Matt Zapotosky reported.

When asked why the question should be included, the first reason the president gave was for Congress. “You need it for Congress, for districting. You need it for appropriations,” he said, according to White House transcripts. Acting director of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli also told “Fox News Sunday” that the president is “determined” to have the question included, per POLITICO’s Quint Forgey.

Presidential Big Board

THE DEBATE STAGE — We’re just over a week away until qualification closes for the second round of primary debates at the end of the month. So far, 21 candidates have qualified, and right now Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is poised to bump California Rep. Eric Swalwell from the stage, with the other 19 candidates who were on stage for the June debates returning, I wrote. And because it is never too early, I have some projections for the first fall debate in September: Joe Biden, Pete Buttieigeg, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have already qualified. Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Julián Castro and Andrew Yang are all contenders to make the stage in the fall, as well. (Tulsi Gabbard and Jay Inslee are borderline cases, based on publicly available information.) Everyone else currently faces a steep climb.

ANOTHER ONE? — Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer may be reconsidering a presidential run. Steyer "has told people he plans to announce that he’s entering the race for the Democratic nomination, according to three people familiar with his plans," POLITICO's Daniel Lippman and Daniel Strauss wrote (The Atlantic's Isaac Dovere was the first to report Steyer's plans, saying he'll announce on Tuesday). But remember: Steyer held a press conference in January in Iowa, where he ultimately announced he wasn't running.

THE CASH DASH — Biden has a sizable haul in the second quarter, his first fundraising report since he’s entered the presidential race. Biden’s camp said last Wednesday he raised $21.5 million, all of it in primary funds, per POLITICO’s Natasha Korecki and Maggie Severns. This is less than Buttigieg’s $24.8 million in the quarter, but Biden didn’t enter the race until nearly a month into the fundraising period. Biden campaign said it raised money from more than 256,000 donors.

— Harris brought in significantly less than Biden (or Buttigieg). Her campaign announced last Friday she raised nearly $12 million in the quarter, per POLITICO’s David Siders. Her campaign said she’s received donations from 279,000 people in the quarter and $7 million of that came from her digital program.

— Bullock’s campaign said he raised over $2 million in the quarter.

THE FIELD — Democratic strategists and campaign operatives are ready for the field to winnow. “Few are worried anymore about the prospect of a brokered convention. Instead, the campaigns are revising their strategic outlooks to account for a field that is dramatically winnowed well before Iowa voters go to the caucuses — perhaps to as few as eight candidates on February 3,” POLITICO’s Chris Cadelago wrote. “By Super Tuesday [March 3], some expect between one and three candidates will be left standing.”

— O’Rourke is trying to find his way forward. “The candidate has been expanding his organization at his Texas headquarters and in early primary states. And his advisers and supporters insisted they aren’t worried: The race is nothing if not fluid, they said, and O’Rourke has the political talent to catch fire,” POLITICO’s David Siders wrote. “O’Rourke is now working with the political media consultancy WIN and its Bill Hyers, a top Democratic strategist who specializes in running progressive campaigns, an O’Rourke aide confirmed to POLITICO.”

— Warren is working to try to win over black voters. Her plan “is a mix of one-on-one outreach to black political leaders when no one’s watching, and a deliberate focus on racial justice woven throughout her policy proposals,” POLITICO’s Alex Thompson wrote.

APOLOGIES — Biden apologized for his past remarks about working with segregationist senators in a speech in South Carolina on Saturday. “Was I wrong a few weeks ago?” Biden said in Sumter, per the AP’s Meg Kinnard and Juana Summers. “Yes, I was. I regret it, and I’m sorry for any of the pain of misconception that caused anybody.” Biden also leaned into his tenure as former President Barack Obama’s vice president.

STAFFING UP — Buttigieg’s campaign is growing after his monster Q2 fundraising. “In Iowa, Buttigieg's campaign added 30 organizers at the end of June, filling out what had previously been a four-person skeleton crew,” POLITICO’s Daniel Strauss and Elena Schneider reported. “A dozen staffers are now on board in New Hampshire. And by the end of the summer, there will be many more: The campaign plans to swell its staff to 300 people by Labor Day, according to multiple people briefed on its plans.”

Down the Ballot

PRIMARY PROBLEMS — Tensions are running high among House Democrats, with some members fearful of a potential primary challenge. “There are still questions about how far-reaching and organized the effort to remake the Democratic Caucus in the House will be — and whether it could jeopardize the party’s control of the chamber. But the uptick of actual and threatened primary challenges presents an additional headache for the party as it seeks to hang on to its majority next year,” POLITICO’s Laura Barrón-López and Sally Goldenberg wrote. “Though members have expressed frustration and concern about primary challenges, there appears to be less fear among members about the power of Justice Democrats, which has struggled to fundraise and provide a clear picture about where it plans to invest its time.”

— While the DCCC “blacklist” has rankled many of the left, it’s actually been good for business for some consulting firms that now specialize in insurgent campaigns, NBC News’ Alex Seitz-Wald reported.

— And speaking of Democratic primary challengers: EMILY’s List is looking to target moderate Rep. Henry Cuellar in TX-28. “We think it’s not completely finalized, so we’re taking a really hard look. We’d like to get in on that one, though,” EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock told The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel and me on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers.”

— Scyller Borglum, a Republican and freshman South Dakota state House representative, said she’s primarying GOP Sen. Mike Rounds, per the Sioux Falls Argus Leader’s Lisa Kaczke. Rounds has not announced his plans for 2020.

— GOP Rep. Thomas Massie may draw a primary of his own in KY-04. “Two independent sources with knowledge of campaign discussions say state Rep. Kim Moser ... is being groomed for a possible bid against the congressman, who has gained notoriety for opposing bipartisan measures big and small,” the Louisville Courier Journal’s Phillip Bailey reported. “Moser acknowledged in an interview with the Courier Journal that she's been approached by national party figures about taking on Massie in next year's Republican primary.”

FIRST IN SCORE — THE (DOWNBALLOT) CASH DASH — Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick raised nearly $500,000 in the second quarter, his campaign told Score. He’ll report over $800,000 in cash on hand, and his campaign said it is his “largest off-year fundraising period to date.”

— Georgia GOP Sen. David Perdue raised $1.9 million in the second quarter, Campaign Pro’s James Arkin reports. Perdue’s campaign will report nearly $4.9 million in cash on hand as of June 30.

— Democrat Teresa Tomlinson, the former mayor of Columbus, Georgia, who’s challenging Perdue, raised $520,000 in the second quarter, per The Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s Greg Bluestein and Tamar Hallerman. She loaned herself $30,000 and will report $330,000 cash on hand.

— New Jersey state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, a Republican, announced he raised over $500,000 in the second quarter to challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in NJ-07.

— Former U.S. attorney Barry Grissom, a Democrat, raised $185,000 in his first day as a candidate for Senate in Kansas.

THE HOUSE MAP — Former GOP Rep. Mia Love is considering running for her old seat in UT-04. "There isn't anyone that I believe can win right now," Love told the Deseret News’ Lisa Riley Roche about the current field to face freshman Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams, while also criticizing the Utah Republican Party. "I'm really being selfish with my time right now," she also said. "If I don't have to get in the race, I won't."

— Days after announcing in a Washington Post op-ed that he was leaving the Republican Party, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that he’ll run for Congress as an independent and didn’t explicitly rule out a presidential bid (though he said it wasn’t on his radar).

— Former Florida GOP Rep. Allen West announced that he wouldn’t run in TX-32, but that he’s considering a run for Texas Republican Party chair, per The Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek.

CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Over the years they’ve been either defeated, retired or died … And those don’t seem like great options right now to me.” — Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on how other New England Republicans have left office, to The Washington Post.

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