Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20a62_n7ip.pdf
Page Number: 5

Cite as:  592 U. S. ____ (2020) 

5 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

believes that the December 31 deadline was feasible under 
the Replan Schedule but is impossible under the injunction.  
Notably,  the  Government  fails  to  explain  why  it  cannot 
meet the statutory deadline by adding resources to acceler-
ate data processing as it did with data collection.  App. to 
Application for Stay 117a (Census Bureau press release ex-
plaining that the Replan Schedule required “hiring of more 
employees  to  accelerate  the  completion  of  data  collection 
and apportionment counts”). 
  That  the  Bureau  has  provided  “ever-changing  projec-
tions” about the impact of the data collection deadline on its 
statutory deadline is understandable given the complexity 
of the census and the unanticipated impact of the COVID–
19 pandemic.  ___ F. 3d, at ___, 2020 WL 5940346, *7; see 
also ___ F. Supp. 3d, at ___–___, 2020 WL 5739144, *4–*6.  
But those ever-changing projections demonstrate that any 
harm  attributable  to  the  injunction  is  at  best  uncertain, 
and, more likely, nonexistent.  This is especially true given 
that, until recently, the Bureau sought an extension of the 
December  31  statutory  deadline,  and  Congress  had  made 
significant progress toward granting it.  The Bureau’s ab-
rupt  shift  in  focus  from  achieving  an  accurate  count  to 
meeting its deadline at all costs belies its newfound concern 
for  issuing  its  report  by  December  31.    See  New  York  v. 
Trump,  ___  F. Supp. 3d  ___,  ___,  2020  WL  5796815,  *2 
(SDNY,  Sept.  29,  2020)  (“As  [the  Government]  admits, 
there is no magic to the deadline for the Secretary’s Section 
141(b) report” to the President).  
  In contrast to the Government’s unsupported claims of ir-
reparable harm, respondents will suffer substantial injury 
if the Bureau is permitted to sacrifice accuracy for expedi-
ency.    As  the  District  Court  found,  and  the  Ninth  Circuit 
credited,  “[a]n  inaccurate  count  would  affect  the  distribu-
tion  of  federal  and  state  funding,  the  deployment  of  ser-
vices,  and  the  allocation  of  local  resources.”    ___  F. Supp. 
3d,  at  ___,  2020  WL  5739144,  *46;  ___  F. 3d,  at  ___,  2020