President Trump on Wednesday defended his administration’s controversial decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
“I think it’s totally ridiculous that we would have a census without asking,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with the president of Poland.
His remarks came the same day the Justice Department announced that Trump had invoked executive privilege to block congressional investigators from viewing documents related to the administration’s move to add the citizenship question.
{mosads}The decision to invoke privilege escalated the fight between the White House and the Democratic-controlled House.
The Oversight and Reform Committee is set to vote Wednesday afternoon on whether to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for failing to comply with congressional subpoenas for documents related to their census investigation.
Critics in Congress argue that adding a citizenship question could intimidate immigrants from participating and create an inaccurate population count. That could have major consequences when congressional district lines are redrawn, with opponents arguing it could benefit Republicans.
The administration has dismissed that argument, saying the question is intended to provide accurate information about the U.S. population.
A citizenship question has not been included in census questions for all U.S. households since 1950.