Welcome to Wednesday, July 3rd, gurus and novices...

The Trump administration has ended its efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

The move comes days after the Supreme Court ruled against the question's inclusion in the next national headcount.

"We can confirm that the decision has been made to print the 2020 Decennial Census questionnaire without a citizenship question, and that the printer has been instructed to begin the printing process," Department of Justice attorney Kate Bailey wrote in an email to groups challenging the question.

Read the full story here.

On the Radar

Anti Antifa

Calls are growing for a federal response to an attack on a journalist by Antifa protesters in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday.

The journalist, Andy Ngo, is an editor for Quillette who has written columns for The Wall Street Journal and National Review and regularly covers Antifa’s activities. The day before the protest, Ngo noted on Twitter that he’d been targeted for “physical confrontation” by Antifa organizers. While recording the event in a crowd of Antifa protesters, Ngo was punched, kicked, had his camera stolen, and was struck by a “milkshake” which Portland Police indicated may have contained quick-drying cement.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler “turned a blind eye to domestic terrorists” and should face legal scrutiny from the DOJ and in civil court.

Beyond investigations and potential charges by law enforcement agencies, there are a pair of bills that have been introduced recently in Congress which could be used to curb political violence by Antifa and violence against journalists generally.

Should the federal government respond to violence against journalists by Antifa?

Under the Radar

Homeless Crisis

President Trump told Fox News that his administration “may intercede” to combat people “living in hell” due to homelessness in major U.S. cities.

"We may intercede. We may do something to get that whole thing cleaned up. It's inappropriate. Now, we have to take the people and we have to do something. We're really not very equipped as a government to be doing that kind of work."

Trump’s comments came in response to recent figures showing the number of homeless people in Los Angeles County ballooned 12% in the past year.

The president blasted the “liberal establishment” and sanctuary cities run by “very liberal people” for the homeless crisis.

“It's a phenomenon that started two years ago. It's disgraceful,” Trump said, alluding to when he took office.

Should the federal government "intercede" on the homeless crisis?

Your Gov't At a Glance

The White House: President Trump in D.C.

At 12:00pm EDT, the president will receive his intelligence briefing.
At 12:45pm EDT, the president will have lunch with the secretary of state.

The House: Out

The House will return Tuesday, July 9th.

The Senate: Out

The Senate will return Monday, July 8th.

What You're Saying

Here are some of your thoughts on Raising the Age Limit to Buy Semi-Automatic Rifles From 18 to 21

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But wait, there's more!

And, in the End...

With the upcoming Fourth of July/me worrying about the effects of fireworks on dogs' ears, Countable wants to know:

Which song best symbolizes America for you?

I'm not talking about the go-to responses - "The Star-Spangled Banner," "America The Beautiful" (maybe Ray Charles' version) - I'm talking about less-obvious tunes. Is it Simon & Garfunkel's "America"? Joan Baez's "There But For Fortune"? Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready"? I’m partial to Leonard Cohen’s “Democracy.”

We're going to compile a Fourth of July Playlist based on your suggestions, which we'll release just in time for the holiday/just in time for me to blare to drown out the fireworks for Anderson Pooper.

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