Cummings takes aim at Census question

Hearing with Justice official provides few answers

Frustrated congressional Democrats accused the Trump administration Friday of politicizing the 2020 Census after a Justice Department official declined to answer questions on how the administration came to include a question asking people their citizenship status.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said he had wanted more information about the administration’s rationale for the question. At a hearing Friday, committee Democrats said the question would have a chilling effect on responses from immigrant communities and others suspicious of government.

“Many individual citizens as well as non-citizens — including legal permanent residents — are fearful about giving their personal data to the government, particularly in the current political climate,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat. “These fears were escalated recently by the DOJ’s request to include the citizenship question on the 2020 Census.”

The hearing witness, John M. Gore, the acting assistant attorney general for civil rights, said he could not respond to specific inquiries about the process, citing pending litigation. Several groups, including a group of voters in Prince George’s County, are challenging the question in court, saying that it would hamper the Census, which is required by the Constitution.

Cummings appeared to grow annoyed when Gore said his testimony was limited by “the ongoing litigation.”

“We have a job to do. We conduct parallel investigations all the time,” the Baltimore lawmaker said. “Your job is to answer our questions.”

Cummings asked Gore whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions was involved in shaping the question.

When Gore said he could not answer, Cummings shouted: “I asked you did you talk to your boss! You mean you’re going to tell me that you can’t answer a question as to whether you talked to your boss who we pay?”

Gore said the question is necessary to gather information to enforce the Voting Rights Act, designed to safeguard the electoral process against racial discrimination.

Cummings said the Trump administration has not been known to aggressively enforce the Voting Rights Act.

“Do you understand why we might be skeptical?” Cummings asked.

Rep. Paul Mitchell, a Michigan Republican, suggested Gore had been treated harshly at the hearing.

“Unfortunately sometimes it degenerates here,” he said.