Trump asserts executive privilege over census documents, delaying Oversight Committee's contempt vote

(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

published 12 June 2019

President Trump has once again asserted executive privilege on Wednesday in response to subpoenas from the House Oversight Committee.

The assertion concerns documents requested by the committee, specifically regarding the Trump administration's desire to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census form.

Trump's intervention has caused the committee's chair, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to postpone a committee vote on whether to hold Barr and Ross in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas until later this afternoon; the move was announced just as the committee was set to vote on the matter this morning. The Department of Justice's letter said the vote was the driving force behind the assertion, as it was "premature." But it appears that rather than irking Cummings, the assertion of executive privilege has piqued his interest and raised suspicions.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Critics say adding a citizenship question to the census would intentionally dilute congressional representation for Democrats and Hispanics. Proponents say it would help enforce the Voting Rights Act.

Explore More

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.