House Oversight Committee Votes To Hold Barr and Ross In Contempt

The House Oversight Committee voted 24-15 to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for their refusal to turn over documents.

Details on the vote:

The contempt resolution now goes to the full House for a final vote.

Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings did everything in his power to reach an accommodation with Ross and Barr but as Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) put it, “I’m from Maryland. I know Rep. Cummings. Chairman Cummings is known as the gentleman of our state. He has done everything in his power to bring the Secretary of Commerce in and to give him every opportunity, and all we get from the administration is a middle finger, and that’s not appropriate for the chairman of this committee, and that is not appropriate for the power of Congress, so we’re going to vindicate Article I.”

Trump has claimed executive privilege over the census question documents, which means that Democrats will need to sue to challenge his assertion. In the meantime, Ross and Barr are stonewalling on the documents until the Supreme Court can rule on the census citizenship question.

The White House is trying to stall until the Supreme Court can rule, so expect this contempt vote to happen and Trump’s attorney general and commerce secretary to be found in contempt of Congress.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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