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His long-awaited appearance before the House Oversight Committee comes only days after a second federal judge said Ross violated federal law and the Constitution by hastily adding the question to the upcoming survey. Democrats have sought answers from the Trump administration for more than a year about its handling of the all-important headcount, zeroing in not only on potential issues related to the citizenship question, but also why the agency is lagging in critical areas as it tries to prepare for the census. Now that the Democrats control the House, they've demanded the secretary's account. “Everything about adding the question doesn't pass the smell test," Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., who sits on the committee, said. "I want to really get to the bottom of that." Last March, Ross told the House Ways and Means Committee under oath that the question was added at his direction after he received a request from the Department of Justice in December 2017 that said the data was needed to properly enforce civil rights laws. However, documents released as a part of a multistate lawsuit showed that Ross inquired about adding the question much earlier. An agency spokesperson later told The Associated Press that discussions about it had begun earlier and nothing in the court records changes "the sound rationale" that Ross cited in his congressional testimony. "I think that their rationale that they want to enforce the Voting Rights Act is just b.s.," Gomez said. "I would like to see the committee focus on that line of question. Did he actually lie to Congress?” He added, “We’re going to hold him accountable for what he said.”

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