A group of House Republicans are raising questions about alleged “political interference” in the final census numbers, which are used to determine the number of congressional districts in each state. 

In a letter sent to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the group — led by House Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky) — the group argued there were inconsistencies from the projections on the number of seats Republican-leaning states were expected to gain and Democrat-leaning states were projected to lose. 

“We write today with concerns about the apportionment count released by the Census Bureau, and whether the process which derived the count was fair, accurate, and independent from any White House interference,” the letter said.  

“Given the extra time it took to complete the 2020 Census – including not meeting the statutory deadlines by months – we have questions about the methodology and the role the Biden White House may have played in releasing these numbers, especially as the results differ from evaluation estimates released mere months ago in ways that benefit blue states over red states.”

The lawmakers noted that there were delays in the release of the results, and took aim at the Census Bureau for referring their previous questions to the White House, arguing it was “entirely inappropriate” and raises concerns about potential bias. 

“When our staff contacted the Census Bureau on the morning of the release with questions about the apportionment count, they were referred by Census officials to the White House for questions,” the letter said.  

“Yet the statute is clear: it is the Secretary of Commerce who reports the apportionment count to the President, not the other way around. Referring our staff’s questions to the White House about the results produced by the Census Bureau is entirely inappropriate, and raises questions about the level of White House involvement in the process.”

The group went on to note that Democrats took aim at the previous administration over their handling of the census, leveraging attacks that they may have attempted to tamper with the process for political gain. 

“The White House involvement is surprising, since Democrats including Chairwoman [Carolyn] Maloney previously accused the Trump White House of ‘scheming about how to rig the process for political gain.'” they continued.  

“While Democrats falsely accused the Trump Administration of using the Census process for political gain, President Biden has done just that. Even as President Trump sought to ensure the accuracy of the 2020 Census apportionment results by excluding illegal aliens from the apportionment count, President Biden reversed course, deciding to dilute American citizens’ representational interests by rescinding this commonsense measure,” the letter said.  

“Several liberal states with sanctuary policies may have lost more congressional seats if illegal immigrants had not been included in the apportionment base.”

The lawmaker cited discrepancies from the estimates in New York, which was projected to lose more than one seat, as an example of a state where they are suspicious of the outcome. 

“Remarkably, the differences benefit traditionally blue states – which gained population compared to the estimates – over red states which tended to lose population compared to the estimates. For example, New York was estimated to have a population of 19,336,776, but was attributed an apportionment population much greater than that of 20,215,751, a difference of nearly 900,000 individuals,” they said. 

“Likewise, states such as New Jersey and Illinois experienced large population increases of hundreds of thousands of individuals compared to the December estimates, while states such as Arizona, Florida, and Texas experienced large decreases from the December estimates.”

The group is calling for the Department to provide the panel with documents and communications related to whether the “apportionment count was independently audited,” information providing any type of analysis of the error rate and who authorized or denied the final count. 

The lawmakers also notably called for any information that may indicate whether the number of undocumente immigrants could have swayed the outcome. 

It was announced earlier this month that Texas is set to add two House seats, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Oregon will each add one seat while Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Michigan and California will each lose one. 

Reps. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Michael Cloud (R-Texas), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), Clay Higgins (R-La.), Fred Keller (R-Pa.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Scott Franklin (R-Fla.), Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.), Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) joined Comer in signing the letter.