Supreme Court Shields Commerce Secretary From Census Controversy Grilling
PROTECTED
Wilbur Ross won't be questioned on his decision to add a citizenship question to the census.
Reuters / Mary F. Calvert
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will not answer lawyers’ questions in a lawsuit challenging his decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census after the Supreme Court approved the government's request that he avoided the grilling. A lawsuit filed by several states and civil rights groups is seeking to stop the Trump administration from adding the controversial citizenship question to the count. The court’s decision makes it unlikely that Ross will have to give a deposition—but it does allow the suit to go forward for the time-being. Ross claimed he added the citizenship question at the request of the Justice Department, but emails showed he had been pushing for the inclusion of the citizenship question earlier than that. The trial is scheduled to start in New York on November 5.
