House Oversight Committee Subpoena Concerning 2020 Census Citizenship Question Rejected by Justice Department

Multiple states around the country sued the Trump administration for its decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census. Michelle R. Smith/AP Photo

As the debate on whether to include a question on U.S. citizenship status in the upcoming 2020 census developed with a Supreme Court case this week. The Department of Justice informed the House Oversight Committee that it will be rejecting a subpoena demanding the appearance of the highly ranked Civil Rights official, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Gore.

House Democrats voted earlier this month to launch subpoenas compelling a number of officials to testify on this issue as well as on other aspects of the administration. This has caused an escalation between House Democrats and President Trump, who suspects that this is all part of a partisan effort to obstruct on policy matters, saying “we are fighting all the subpoenas.”