Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
WEKU
WEKU
National
Hansi Lo Wang

Documents detail the secret strategy behind Trump's census citizenship question push

The House oversight committee has released internal documents about the failed push for a census citizenship question by former President Donald Trump's administration, including Wilbur Ross, the former commerce secretary who is shown at a White House meeting in 2018. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Former President Donald Trump's administration spent years trying to add a census citizenship question as part of a secret strategy for altering the population numbers used to divide up seats in Congress and the Electoral College, internal documents released Wednesday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee confirm.

Long kept from the public, the Trump administration memos and emails were disclosed by lawmakers following a more than two-year legal fight that began after Trump officials refused to turn them over for a congressional investigation. Citing the "exceptional circumstances" of the case, the Biden administration, which inherited the lawsuit last year, agreed to allow House oversight committee members and their staff to review the documents.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.