The Oversight Committee wants key documents by Thursday.
House Democrats are moving to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena for information about efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
“Unfortunately, your actions are part of a pattern,” House Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) wrote to Barr and Ross in separate letters Monday. “The Trump administration has been engaged in one of the most unprecedented cover-ups since Watergate, extending from the White House to multiple federal agencies and departments of the government and across numerous investigations.”
Cummings said he would consider postponing the contempt votes, which have not yet been scheduled, if Barr and Ross turn over the requested documents by Thursday.
The committee first authorized the subpoena in April as part of its probe into the origins of the administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the next census. Democrats have argued the move would result in an under-count of people who live in areas with high immigrant populations in a bid to boost Republicans’ political prospects.
