Can you believe that the Radical Left Democrats want to do our new and very important Census Report without the all important Citizenship Question. Report would be meaningless and a waste of the $Billions (ridiculous) that it costs to put together!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2019
On Tuesday, a Democratic-controlled House panel voted Tuesday to subpoena documents and a witness related to the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
The vote was 23-14, with Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan being the only Republican to join with Democratic lawmakers in the vote.
Democrats say they want specific documents that will determine why Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross decided to add the question. They say the Trump administration has declined to provide those documents despite repeated requests. The vote is the latest example of the ways Democratic lawmakers are using their majority to aggressively investigate the inner workings of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Ross said the decision in March 2018 to add the question was based on a Justice Department request to help it enforce the Voting Rights Act.
The official counting begins on April 1 next year. To mark the date one year out, Census Bureau officials held a briefing Monday to begin raising awareness and project confidence that they’re up to the monumental task.
Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham declined to answer a question about the president’s tweet, saying “we really want to restrict our comments to talking about the great job we’re doing, where we are and how it’s going to help this nation.”
Dillingham noted that the census for the first time will give people the chance to respond online. People can also respond by telephone and mail. He cited how easy it will be to provide requested information and to assure that the information will be secure and confidential.
“But probably the message we really want to emphasize is how important it is,” Dillingham said. “We now live in an information age where accurate data improves the quality of our lives and supports our thriving economy.”
The decennial census is used to help determine how about $675 billion in federal dollars is distributed each year. State and local governments use it to make decisions about where to locate schools and health clinics and provide social services and improve roads and bridges. The survey results are also used to distribute electoral college votes and congressional district seats.
The citizenship question has been caught up in litigation in federal courts, where lower courts have ruled that the administration’s haste to include the question violated federal law and the Constitution.
Trump tweeted that without a citizenship question, the “Report would be meaningless and a waste of the $Billions (ridiculous) that it costs to put together!”
Against the advice of career officials at the Census Bureau, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross decided last year to add the citizenship question to the survey for the 10-year headcount, saying the Justice Department requested the question to improve enforcement of the federal Voting Rights Act.
The Supreme Court is hearing the Trump administration appeal of a federal judge’s ruling in New York that the decision violated federal law. Since then, a judge in California has said a citizenship question also would violate the Constitution.
A resolution of the citizenship matter is needed soon to allow the government to start printing the census questionnaire.
Michael Platt Jr., an assistant secretary at the Commerce Department, said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press the department believes “the rush to issue a subpoena is premature.” Platt said the department’s staff is working at full capacity on “both its normal business and its multiple Congressional engagements, and I believe your one-day response demand is inconsistent with your constitutional obligation to accommodate the department.”
“We respectfully request adequate time to consider your letter and requests,” Platt wrote Monday.