President Trump came out in favor of a controversial question about citizenship on the 2020 Census — a matter that is before the Supreme Court — saying without it, the 10-year count would be a “waste” of money.
“Can you believe that the Radical Left Democrats want to do our new and very important Census Report without the all important Citizenship Question,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday. “Report would be meaningless and a waste of the $Billions (ridiculous) that it costs to put together!”
The Supreme Court agreed in February to take up the question, which asks: “Is this person a citizen of the United States?”
The justices are scheduled to hear arguments April 23 and are expected to issue a ruling by June to ensure the census can be printed on time for the survey to begin on April 1, 2020.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he added the citizenship question on the survey at the request of the Department of Justice as part of its enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.
A number of states and civil rights groups, including New York, sued, saying adding the question, which hasn’t been asked since 1950, would intimidate immigrant families that include non-citizens from filling out the survey.
Data collected from the census is used to determine how many congressional seats states receive, the drawing of political districts and the distribution of federal aid for schools, roads and public institutions.
The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday will vote on issuing a subpoena to Ross to compel him to testify and release documents about why the Commerce Department decided to add the citizenship question.