WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court added a politically explosive case to its low-profile docket Friday, agreeing to decide by the end of June whether the Trump administration can add a question about citizenship to the 2020 Census form sent to every American household.

The census hasn’t asked the question of each household since 1950, and a federal judge last month stopped the Commerce Department from adding it to the upcoming count.

Those opposed to the question argue the census response rate will likely fall if households are asked whether undocumented immigrants are present, and make less accurate the once-a-decade ‘‘actual Enumeration’’ of the population required by the Constitution.

Because the administration said it needs to know by the end of June whether the census form can contain the question, the court bypassed its usual procedures to accept the case. The justices will directly review the 227-page opinion handed down by US District Judge Jesse Furman of New York, rather than require it first to go through the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

Washington Post