Ross Must Share Census Data or Face Possible Action, Cummings Says
Ross Must Share Census Data or Face Possible Action, Cummings Says
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross he has until Monday, April 1, to tell the panel whether his department will agree to share previously requested documents without redactions related to a citizenship question in the 2020 Census.
If Ross doesn’t agree to provide the documents, the panel “will consider compulsory process to obtain the documents” at its business meeting on April 2, Cummings says in a March 29 letter.
Earlier this month, Ross defended his decision to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census as Democrats in Congress criticized the move as political effort aimed at discouraging the participation of immigrants and non-citizens.
The House committee plans an April 2 meeting where it could consider a resolution from Cummings that would authorize issuing subpoenas to Ross and Attorney General William Barr for records and to Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Gore to testify in regard to the committee’s probe of the 2020 Census citizenship question.
The panel also intends to consider a measure from Cummings that would allow the subpoena of former White House Personnel Security Director Carl Kline to testify in connection with the committee’s investigation into the White House’s security clearance process.
Earlier this month, Cummings wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece that the White House is “engaged in an unprecedented level of stonewalling, delay and obstruction.”
“One of the most important investigations we are conducting is a review of White House security clearances,” Cummings wrote.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Livesey in San Francisco at blivesey@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kasia Klimasinska at kklimasinska@bloomberg.net, Kim Chipman, Greg Sullivan
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