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Justice Department special counsel Joshua Gardner admitted to the Maryland district court that the president's tweet contradicted their earlier position and that they were still sorting out how to respond.

\"We at the Department of Justice have been instructed to examine whether there is a path forward, consistent with the Supreme Court's decision, that would allow us to include the citizenship question on the census,\" assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's civil division, Jody Hunt, said on a Wednesday afternoon call with U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel of Maryland.

\"We think there may be a legally available path under the Supreme Court's decision. We're examining that, looking at near-term options to see whether that's viable and possible,\" Hunt added.

Hazel ordered the government to make clear whether the citizenship question would appear on the census by Friday, or tell the court how it plans to move forward to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling.

It's unclear what argument DOJ will ultimately make tomorrow.

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