Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are requesting documents related to the recent decision to add a question about citizenship status to the 2020 census.
In a letter addressed to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Census Bureau Acting Director Ron Jarmin on Wednesday, the Democrats mentioned the Census Bureau’s previously expressed concern that the new question would “negatively impact the response rate for non-citizens” and asked for any documents detailing this concern, correspondence including qualms about the new question, and data about the question’s potential impact.
They requested the documents be delivered by April 11.
Ranking Member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) has previously called for hearings on the new question, saying that “the Trump administration’s plan to insert a new, untested question on citizenship will increase costs for American taxpayers and decrease the accuracy of the census itself.”
Read the full letter here:
