At the end of 1951, Quinn resigned his seat in Congress to become the Queens County District Attorney and Ross won the February 1952 special election to replace him.

Congressional committees and reporters charged him with censorship when he made significant edits to speeches by staffers, service secretaries and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[1] He also incorrectly confirmed a 1956 report that three senators, including John L. McClellan, had requested the Air Force to send a pair of planes to Europe for them.

[1] In January 1957, Ross took a leave of absence in response to a congressional investigation into possible conflicts of interest involving a clothing business run by his wife and owned by his brother-in-law.

The Senators also looked into an allegation that Ross set up a meeting for his brother-in-law with an army officer to ostensibly discuss clothes procured under another defense contract.

He resided in Jackson Heights until his death there on October 1, 1981; interment was at Oakdale Cemetery in Washington, North Carolina.