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Trump says ‘next’ to Acosta and the citizenship fight

Posted at 5:31 PM, Jul 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-12 19:31:33-04

The Trump administration scrapped two major things this week: its latest bid to get a citizenship question on the census — and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta.

After a flurry of legal action late last week, President Donald Trump again reversed course, this time announcing that the administration would abandon its attempts to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

Instead, the Trump team is asking government agencies to provide records that could determine a head count of citizens without polling census-takers directly.

Trump made it clear on Thursday that he would not back down from obtaining some sort of count of those living legally — and illegally — in the United States, but he did admit the serious legal hurdles his administration needed to clear in order to get that question on the 2020 census.

“We will leave no stone unturned,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, after a week of harsh scrutiny for his role in a controversial plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein a decade ago, Acosta announced Friday that he would step down.

“I do not think it is right and fair to this administration’s Labor Department to have Epstein as the focus rather than the incredible economy that we have today,” Acosta said.

Trump praised Acosta’s work as labor secretary over the last two and a half years as they spoke to reporters, announcing Acosta’s surprise departure. Trump also said he was “not a fan” of Epstein, and once threw him out of his Mar-a-Lago club.

“I didn’t want anything to do with him. That was many, many years ago. It shows you one thing — that I have good taste,” Trump said of Epstein.

But the President’s week wasn’t all bad: After a mostly well-received expanded Fourth of July celebration, Trump promised to double down — and do it again next year.

The Point: It’s on to the next as Trump ditches the citizenship question on the 2020 census and his labor secretary.

And now, the week in 28 headlines:

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

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