Opinion of Alito, J.
reviewable. The Secretary is also accountable to Congress with respect to the administration of the census since he has that power only because Congress has found it appropriate to entrust it to him. And the Secretary is always answerable to the President, who is, in turn, accountable to the people.
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Throughout our Nation’s history, the Executive Branch has decided without judicial supervision or interference whether and, if so, in what form the decennial census should inquire about the citizenship of the inhabitants of this country. Whether to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census questionnaire is a question that is committed by law to the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce and is therefore exempt from APA review. The District Court had the authority to decide respondents’ constitutional claims, but the remainder of their complaint should have been dismissed.
I join Parts I, II, III, IV–B, and IV–C15[1] of the opinion of the Court. I do not join the remainder, and insofar as the Court holds that the Secretary’s decision is reviewable under the APA, I respectfully dissent.
- ↑ Although I would hold that the Secretary’s decision is not reviewable under the APA, in the alternative I would conclude that the decision survives review under the applicable standards. I join Parts IV–B and IV–C on that understanding.
