CENSUS/CITIZENSHIP/HOUSE OF REPS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A House committee voted on Wednesday [6-12-19] to recommend that two cabinet secretaries be held in contempt of Congress, hours after President Trump invoked executive privilege to block disclosure of crucial documents on the decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The House Oversight and Reform Committee’s action against Attorney General William P. Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross sets up a possible vote on the House floor in the coming weeks. It was the culmination of a monthslong dispute over the panel’s efforts to compel testimony from top administration officials and secure documents related to the census question. The vote was mostly along party lines, with only one Republican supporting it: Representative Justin Amash of Michigan, the sole member of his party in Congress to call for Mr. Trump’s impeachment. It was the latest front in an escalating conflict between Mr. Trump and the Democratic House as lawmakers step up oversight of the government and the executive branch moves to keep its internal deliberations confidential.”
–Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Charlie Savage, “Census Fight Grows as House Panel Backs Contempt and Trump Asserts Privilege,” The New York Times online, June 12, 2019