The Supreme Court Knows Trump’s Nativist Census Scheme Is Unconstitutional

But the conservative justices might not intervene until it’s too late.

Three weeks before he leaves office, Donald Trump plans to punish states with large immigrant communities by denying them fair representation in Congress. Although this plot violates a bedrock constitutional principle, the Supreme Court may not be willing to nip it in the bud. At oral arguments on Monday, a majority of justices seemed to acknowledge that Trump’s scheme violates the law. But several fretted that they might not have authority to block his policy before it inflicts real...