The Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to block a lower court order for Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to be questioned by lawyers for a group of states challenging a decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to ask people taking part in the 2020 census whether they are citizens. The Justice Department told the Supreme Court the states should not be allowed to probe Ross’s “mental state” in deciding to add the citizenship question to the census, saying that compelling testimony from high-ranking officials is rarely justified. The U.S. Constitution mandates a census every 10 years. It is used to determine the allocation of seats in Congress and at the state level, the drawing of political boundaries and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal funds to communities.
