House Oversight and Reform Committee ranking member Jim Jordan James (Jim) Daniel JordanSunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election House passes resolution condemning anti-Asian discrimination relating to coronavirus Republicans call for Judiciary hearing into unrest in cities run by Democrats MORE (R-Ohio) released a report Thursday saying Democrats were “fear mongering” as they look into the Trump administration’s decision to add a question on citizenship to the 2020 census.

The report argued that collecting information on whether individuals are citizens is not unprecedented and that the question has been on census forms in the past, including on every decennial census from 1820 to 1950.

“Democrats are loudly protesting the reinstitution of the citizenship question on the 2020 Census, knowing that the question is not new, and that similar information is solicited regularly at all levels of government," the report said.

"Democrats are playing to fear, alleging that immigrant households will not respond to the census if it includes a question on their citizenship.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The Department of Commerce announced last year the addition of the citizenship question to the 2020 census, saying it would help the Department of Justice enforce the Voting Rights Act.

But the move was met with a series of legal challenges, with critics arguing that it would deter some from responding to the census and lead to an inaccurate count of the population.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee has issued subpoenas seeking more information from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Commerce Department regarding the addition of the question.

Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene CummingsBlack GOP candidate accuses Behar of wearing black face in heated interview Overnight Health Care: US won't join global coronavirus vaccine initiative | Federal panel lays out initial priorities for COVID-19 vaccine distribution | NIH panel: 'Insufficient data' to show treatment touted by Trump works House Oversight Democrats to subpoena AbbVie in drug pricing probe MORE (D-Md.) also threatened to hold a DOJ official in contempt if he doesn’t comply with a subpoena to testify.

But the DOJ asserted Tuesday it would not comply with the subpoena unless John Gore, a principal deputy assistant attorney general, is allowed to have an agency lawyer with him.

The report issued by Jordan's office strongly defended the addition of the question to the census forms.

"Citizenship information obtained though the Census is a proper use of the Commerce Secretary’s authority, protected by federal law, and beneficial to policymakers," the report said.

The report also accused Cummings of looking to influence Supreme Court litigation on the citizenship question “by seeking documents from the Commerce Department that go directly to heart of the issue before the Supreme Court."

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments about the citizenship question later this month.