(CNN) The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to block Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross from having to face a deposition on the decision to reinstate a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

In papers filed with the court, Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the justices that a panel of judges on the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong to uphold a district court ruling that allows the deposition to proceed.

"The balance of harms weighs strongly in favor of an immediate stay," Francisco wrote. He noted that the challengers intend to depose Ross, as well as acting Assistant Attorney General John M. Gore of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, on Wednesday and Thursday.

"Absent a stay, these high-level Executive Branch officials will be forced to prepare for and attend these depositions, and those harms cannot be undone by an eventual victory on the merits," Francisco wrote.

Read More