The top House Democrat overseeing spending for the Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau vowed Tuesday to block funds to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice and science, warned of a cost of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars if the Trump administration tries to amend the form after printing has already begun without the citizenship question.

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"I want to make one thing clear: I have no intention of allowing this flagrant waste of money. I once again urge the Trump Administration to give up this fight and allow for a depoliticized and accurate census, as we always have," Serrano said in a statement.

House Democrats previously passed a spending package last month that includes a provision to block the Census Bureau from including a citizenship question on its 2020 survey. Democratic lawmakers, like other critics of adding the question, argue that asking about citizenship would suppress responses from noncitizens and immigrants, leading to racial minorities being undercounted.



The push to block funding comes as the House is expected to vote in the coming days to hold Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Wilbur Louis RossTrump admin asks Supreme Court to fast-track excluding people in U.S. illegally from census Trump 'very happy' to allow TikTok to operate in US if security concerns resolved TikTok, WeChat to be banned Sunday from US app stores MORE and Attorney General William Barr Bill BarrHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Bipartisan representatives demand answers on expired surveillance programs YouTube to battle mail-in voting misinformation with info panel on videos MORE in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas for documents related to adding the citizenship question.

House Democrats' determination to confront the Trump administration over the citizenship question on the census could be another flashpoint in efforts to prevent a government shutdown in October, when current funding is set to run dry.

House Democrats will have to reconcile the spending bill for the Census Bureau that they already passed last month with Republicans in the Senate and the White House in negotiations to keep the government funded.