'Disruption and havoc': Courtroom chaos of Trump's first term expected to return if he wins election
Trump’s impulsive leadership style and frequent controversial pronouncements played a complicating role in the administration’s many court battles during his time in office.
WASHINGTON — Speaking to a federal judge in July 2019, a flummoxed career Justice Department lawyer made a statement that summed up former President Donald Trump’s shoot-from-the-hip and often chaotic form of governance.
“The tweet this morning was the first I had heard of the president’s position on this issue,” Joshua Gardner told Maryland-based Judge George Hazel.
Gardner was trying to explain to the judge why the Trump administration had completely reversed its legal position in a high-profile and ultimately doomed attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
The previous week, the Supreme Court had issued a ruling that blocked the administration from seeking to add the question, and the Justice Department had appeared to concede that there was no way of revisiting the issue, with time running out for the census papers to be finalized.
But then Trump stepped in with one of his signature tweets, saying the administration was “absolutely moving forward” with the plan.
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