Democrats Push For Internal Documents On 2020 Census Citizenship Question

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https://www.npr.org/2018/04/24/605152541/democrats-push-for-internal-documents-on-2020-census-citizenship-question

Democratic lawmakers are calling for a subpoena to force the U.S. Census Bureau and Commerce Department to release internal documents about the decision to add a controversial citizenship question to forms for the upcoming national headcount.

The request comes two weeks before a congressional oversight hearing on the 2020 census.

"We believe these documents are critical for our Committee," write all 18 Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in a letter to its chairman, Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, "to understand the concerns raised internally by career experts at the Census Bureau itself about the dangers of adding this untested new citizenship question to the census — as well as why the Trump Administration disregarded these concerns."

A Commerce Department spokesperson has previously told NPR the documents will not be released until after the May 8 hearing. The agency is preparing to release them publicly after its attorneys file them later next month at the federal courts that are hearing the lawsuits against the citizenship question.