My suggested response to Trump's illegal order to include the citizenship question
If Trump proceeds and orders the Commerce Department to print the citizenship question on the Census, the State of New York (the plaintiff/ respondent in this case) should ask the court to enforce its injunction prohibiting the addition of the citizenship question to the census questionnaire and to declare that any administration instructions to the contrary to be an illegal order that no employee is required to obey and any attempt to discipline an employee for failing to comply will constitute contempt of court.
That injunction should be enforced against not just administration senior officials, who are likely to thumb their noses and not fear consequences, but every Department employee and contractor. And if they defy the court order and follow Trump's illegal order, they should be threatened with arrest - and arrested if they continue to refuse to comply.
When career employees stop following Trump's illegal orders, things may start to change. The courts can help make this happen by taking steps to protect employees from retaliation.
