House to vote Tuesday on holding Barr, Ross in contempt over census

close

Video

Is an executive order coming from Trump on the census citizenship question?

House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan argues that everyone is behind the 'common sense' move except the Democrats.

Nearly a month after the House Oversight Committee voted to hold Attorney General Bill Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., announced that the full House will vote on the matter Tuesday.

It was June 12 when the committee voted that Barr and Ross should be held in contempt of Congress for not complying with subpoenas for records pertaining to the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

BOOKER INTRODUCES BILL TO RESTRICT USE OF CENSUS CITIZENSHIP QUESTION

“We will hold this Admin accountable for continued obstruction & oppose efforts to undermine the census,” Hoyer said in a Thursday tweet.

The Justice Department said President Trump was asserting executive privilege over the documents the panel had requested.

House Democrats have been trying to get records that would explain why the administration has been trying to include the citizenship question. Ross claimed that the Department of Justice pushed for it to aid enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, but the Supreme Court found this was just a pretext.

DEMOCRATS , GOP TRADE BARBS OVER CITIZENSHIP QUESTION ON 2020 CENSUS

The high court’s ruling said that a citizenship question could be permitted in theory, but there had to be a valid reason for it. Democrats have come out against the citizenship question, claiming that it would discourage people from responding to the census, affecting the amount of federal funding and the drawing of district maps in areas with large immigrant populations.

President Trump was scheduled to address the census issue on Thursday at a White House press conference. Fox News has learned that Trump intends to announce executive action to determine the number of citizens in the United States.

Fox News' Alex Pappas contributed to this report.