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Press Release Published: Apr 2, 2019

Ranking Member Jordan Releases Report Highlighting Democrats’ Partisan Investigation of the Citizenship Question

Ranking Member Jordan Releases Report Highlighting Democrats’ Partisan Investigation of the Citizenship Question

WASHINGTON, DC– Today, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, released a staff report critical of Chairman Cummings’s use of Committee resources to interfere with the ongoing litigation over the citizenship question before the Supreme Court.

During a business meeting today, the Committee will consider Chairman Cummings’s request for subpoenas as part of his partisan and political investigation into the Commerce Department’s reinstatement of the citizenship question on the census.

Read the full report here.

Key Findings

  • Democrats are seeking the same information at issue in the Supreme Court litigation. Chairman Cummings is using the authority of the Committee to gather documentary and testimonial evidence at the heart of the Supreme Court case. One Democrat Member of the Committee even proclaimed that the Committee’s oversight was intended to “reveal something that the courts can use” in the litigation. The decision to hold hearings on matters currently involved in litigation carries the potential to jeopardize the impartiality of judicial proceedings.
  • Democrats should not interfere with ongoing litigation, especially at the Supreme Court. When Chairman Cummings was in the minority, he argued against interfering with ongoing litigation. Outside experts agree that Chairman Cummings should not force Secretary Ross to disclose information at issue in the Supreme Court litigation.

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