What is missing from your commentary above- and it is a major sticking point for some of the justices- is that Congress had notice of the proposed change to the census but did not weigh in on it. So some of the the justices are less sympathetic to all the procedural wrangling and tea-leaf reading about what Wilber Ross's motives were and were not. It is not the Supreme Court's job to tell Congress to get its fingers out its arse when there is an issue that is properly within its scope. Now, when I say "some of the justices" were troubled by it, the lefties will automatically assume that that is just code-talk for the conservative justices so screw em. But not so. Even Ruthie was troubled by it. She wanted to know why if Congress had weighed in -in the past- on the issue of whether a question about religion could be included in the census, why it did not weigh in on the question of citizenship. ???????????????? Not saying Ruthie will vote with the conservatives, just that she is asking a question that the conservatives are asking. Ruthie will vote however MSNBC tells her to vote. Probably the lefties here and before the Court have/had spiffy answers to all of that. Good. Because oral argument is closed now. As I said yesterday, I don't see any slam dunk here for the conservatives. It is looking good but I am going to sacrifice a couple chickens to raise the odds. Also, no doubt the ruling will affirm the right of congress to intervene rather than that the executive branch alone is the ultimate decider, except that the composition of congress and Trump's veto power would still need to be overcome. But as far as judicial precedent, I dont doubt that they will affirm congressional power.
I agree with you that it’s looking good for Trump despite very weak arguments from the proponents. I actually think the determination will most likely be based upon there not having been a test of the question so there is no evidence of negative impact on accuracy. Accuracy is the central point and must be addressed in the ruling.
The court, if they do their job, will kick this back to congress where it belongs. Our do nothing congress doesn't really want to address this issue, or any other issue, because they would rather see things tied up in the courts hoping for favorable rulings by leftist judges.