President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE on Wednesday defended his administration’s controversial decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

“I think it’s totally ridiculous that we would have a census without asking,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with the president of Poland.

His remarks came the same day the Justice Department announced that Trump had invoked executive privilege to block congressional investigators from viewing documents related to the administration's move to add the citizenship question.

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The decision to invoke privilege escalated the fight between the White House and the Democratic-controlled House.

The Oversight and Reform Committee is set to vote Wednesday afternoon on whether to hold 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 and 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 in contempt for failing to comply with congressional subpoenas for documents related to their census investigation.

Critics in Congress argue that adding a citizenship question could intimidate immigrants from participating and create an inaccurate population count. That could have major consequences when congressional district lines are redrawn, with opponents arguing it could benefit Republicans.

The administration has dismissed that argument, saying the question is intended to provide accurate information about the U.S. population.

A citizenship question has not been included in census questions for all U.S. households since 1950.