Supreme Court makes trial in census case

The Supreme Court late Friday refused the Trump administration's request to postpone a trial in lawsuits.

The court rejected the administration's request without explanation. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, of the high court 's conservative wing, said they would have granted the application.

The government had asked a question about the Commerce Secretary Wilbur RossWilbur Louis RossPerry to visit Ukraine, Poland to discuss alternatives to Russian energy Commerce Department IG to audit Trump's tariff exemptions Warren accuses Trade Dept of hurting US workers with tariff exemptions MORE and another high-ranking official administration can be questioned under oath.

The trial, which is scheduled to start on Monday, stems from a lawsuit 17-blue leaning states and a handful of cities against the administration. The case was consolidated with a separate challenge brought by immigrant rights groups.

Last week, the Supreme Court agreed on the case of John Gore, the acting assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice and Civil Rights Division, from being questioned.

The government has argued that they should not be liable to the mental processes of Ross and other officials to see if they harbor secret racial animus. Solicitor General Noel Francisco said in his request that the court would "unavoidably distract the government, including the Commerce Department, from the energetic performance of its constitutional duties."

The challengers are seeking to question and have been involved in the decision making process.

They argue the question will be answered by skewing an accurate population count. The census figures are used to redraw House districts and divvy up federal funding among the states.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which hailed the court's ruling on Friday.

"Dale Ho, director of the ACLU 's Voting Rights Project, said," We are pleased with the Supreme Court of this appeal.

"We'll see the trump administration in short on Monday."

The Department of Justice declined to comment.