Democrats want more information about the Trump administration’s attempts to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

By Ella Nilsen @ Vox.com, July 17, 6:31 pm

The US House has voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt for not complying with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request for information on why they added a US citizenship question to the 2020 census. The final vote was 230-198, with only former Republican Rep. Justin Amash joining Democrats (four Democrats also voted no).

The vote is part of an ongoing effort by House Democrats to get more information about the Trump administration’s attempts to include a citizenship question on the census. Wednesday’s vote marks the first time the full House has passed a criminal contempt resolution for members of the Trump administration.

Even though the House just passed a criminal referral asking the US Justice Department to prosecute Barr and Ross, it’s crucial to remember Congress is essentially just making another a request here, albeit a more strongly worded one. It’s up to the executive branch to comply [....]