House holds Barr, Ross in contempt

WASHINGTON—House Democrats on Wednesday voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for defying congressional subpoenas. The 230-198 party-line vote followed complaints by Democrats that the Trump administration is undermining the authority of Congress. Recently declared independent Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan joined Democrats in the vote.

Barr and Ross did not comply with a House Oversight Committee request for more information about the effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Under deadline pressure to print the census forms, the Trump administration abandoned that effort last week after the Supreme Court temporarily blocked it. President Donald Trump said he would instead sign an executive order to count U.S. citizens.

The contempt resolution is largely symbolic because the Department of Justice is highly unlikely to prosecute either official. In 2012, House Republicans voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt without consequence.

Earlier in the day, Ross shrugged off the vote as “political theater.” He also dismissed a media report that his job might be in jeopardy, noting that he had just returned from a multi-city trip with the president.