Subcommittee Democrats Expose Republicans’ Unconstitutional Efforts to Manipulate the Census

Washington, D.C. (November 19, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, led subcommittee Democrats in calling out Republicans’ flagrantly unconstitutional and factually-meritless mission to manipulate the census for political gain while harming all Americans in the process. 

The hearing included testimony from: John C. Yang, President and Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Jay Rodriguez, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Kansas Attorney General; Joseph Wade Miller, Senior Advisor, Center for Renewing America; and Trey Mayfield, Member, Chalmers, Adams, Backer, & Kaufman LLC.

Committee Democrats underscored that the Constitution is clear: the census must include the “whole number of persons in each State” to ensure an accurate picture of who resides within the United States.

• Ranking Member Raskin asked: “Obviously, the Framers of the 14th Amendment understood the difference between citizens and persons […] Doesn’t that pretty much settle this bizarrely lingering question of whether or not we should be counting all persons or just citizens when we perform the census?” Mr. Yang answered: “If you look at the text of the Constitution—the 14th Amendment—it counts all persons in the state. And frankly, some of the history, both of the 14th Amendment and going back to the founding of the Constitution, illustrate that they wanted to count the entire population and not simply voters, not simply landowners. And obviously, at that point, women could not vote, obviously children could not vote. So, they wanted to include the entire population.”
   
• Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove asked: “Assistant Attorney General Rodriguez says in his written testimony that apportionment should not account for those in a state unlawfully. What would be your response to that?” Mr. Yang answered: “I don’t see anything in the Constitution that makes any sort of distinction [between citizens and noncitizens] rather than what the 14th Amendment provides in the census in terms of apportionment. And Article I, Section II [...] makes no distinction. Now, in the written testimony, it makes reference to the fact that somehow they should be part of a political community. But the notion of political community does not exist anywhere in the text of the Constitution.” 

Committee Democrats explained how in defiance of the law, history, and practice, Republicans seek to weaponize the census for political gain by interfering with its accuracy. 

• Rep. Pramila Jayapal asked, “Can you speak to how adding a citizenship question actually hurts us in terms of accuracy and increasing undercounting?” Mr. Yang answered: “All the studies that we have seen, including by the Census Bureau, show that the addition of a citizenship question will undermine the accuracy of the census, not only for immigrants, but for all Americans.”  Rep. Jayapal continued, “If there is undercounting—substantial undercounting—how does that undercount harm American citizens in terms of how the census is utilized?” Mr. Yang answered: “Well, the undercount affects American citizens [...] because we will have areas where there’s more population than was expected, even though the roads are not wide enough, even though the schools are not big enough, even though the public services are not big enough. And let’s be clear: right highways, public services aren’t dependent on immigrant status. It’s dependent on the actual residents that live in that community.”
   
• Rep. Becca Balint said: “President Trump has made clear that he feels that birthright citizenship is not constitutional. He feels that non-citizens should not be counted in the census. He has made clear that he views the 2020 Census as illegitimate. But the truth is, the President can feel any way he wants. The courts have spoken: birthright citizenship is the law of the land. The census counts for everyone, and the 2020 Census was as accurate as the 2010 Census. And yet, here we are again in a hearing to make these claims, these nonsensical legal theories, more legitimate by holding hearings about them. And more broadly, I think this hearing props up baseless legal theories that undermine the census and threaten our representative democracy.”
   
• Ranking Member Scanlon asked: “Do you think there’s general agreement that the purpose of the Census Clause is to get an accurate count of all persons?” Mr. Yang answered: “Certainly that has been the history. It has been nonpartisan. That is the purpose of the census as defined in the Constitution, defined in the 14th amendment—for purposes of apportionment—is to count all persons, that is the literal text.” Rep. Scanlon continued: “And we have considerable constitutional history and court opinions saying they did not choose to say inhabitants. They did not choose to say taxpayers. They did not choose to say citizens or voters. It’s persons?” Mr. Yang answered: “That is correct.”
   
• In response to a question from Chairman Chip Roy on if the 2020 Census was accurate, Republicans’ own witnesses, Mr. Mayfield, affirmed that it was, stating: “At the state and national level, it was within the margin of error for modern censuses.”

Committee Democrats warned that if Republicans succeed in weaponizing the census, American citizens will pay the price for their power grab.

• Ranking Member Scanlon said: “An accurate census is essential for a fair distribution of political power here in Congress and for the equitable allocation of billions of dollars of federal funds to states and communities, including for programs like Medicaid, free and reduced school lunches, Head Start, and SNAP. Its data is used by businesses and non-profits to determine where and how to operate, and by state and local governments to decide where to invest in public infrastructure, like roads, hospitals, and schools. [...] If [Republicans’] efforts succeed, Americans will suffer. Undercounts and other counting errors particularly hurt vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations, including: young children, racial and ethnic minorities, the transient and homeless, those in nontraditional housing arrangements, and those living in very rural or dense urban communities.”
   
• In response to a question from Rep. Kamlager-Dove about why it’s essential to count all people in order to ensure public resources meet the needs of the full population, Mr. Yang explained:  “With respect to public services, with respect to roads, that immigration status does not matter when it comes to the need for good roads, the need for good public services, and making sure we have an accurate count of our entire population.”