Washington, D.C. -Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued the following statement in response to Chairman Gowdy announcing a hearing on the 2020 Census on May 8, 2018, and the Administration’s refusal to provide documents about adding a citizenship question:
“I’m very pleased that Chairman Gowdy has now heeded our calls for a public hearing to understand why the Trump Administration disregarded serious concerns expressed by career experts at the Census Bureau about adding a citizenship question. Democrats have asked for documents relating to this decision, and it’s unacceptable that the Administration is refusing to produce them because of ongoing litigation. We are a separate branch of government, we have our own duty to conduct oversight, and we do independent investigations all the time even when there are outside disputes among the parties. If they continue to withhold these documents from us, we hope Chairman Gowdy will issue a subpoena to obtain them as soon as possible."
