The Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for the Treasury Department to release former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to Congress, but the Democrats who have worked for five years to obtain them may not have enough time to do anything before they lose control of the House in January.
A Republican-led House will shut down the investigation into Trump’s tax history, and the Treasury Department hasn’t given a timeline for when it will release the records to the Ways and Means Committee. The government can’t release individual tax returns, but a report from the committee would be able to make key findings public.
SUPREME COURT PAVES WAY FOR CONGRESS TO RECEIVE TRUMP’S TAX RETURNS AFTER YEARSLONG LEGAL FIGHT
The Ways and Means Committee would have to go through six years of tax returns in the next six weeks, with the House in session for less than two weeks — and that’s assuming the Treasury Department releases the records swiftly. After Jan. 3, when the 118th Congress begins, Republicans will turn their investigative powers on the Biden family and other GOP priorities.
“Democrats’ relentless pursuit of President Trump’s tax records is nothing more than a partisan attack on a political opponent that serves no legitimate or legislative purpose,” Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), who is in the running to chair the Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement.
Current Ways and Means Chairman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) said, “I have led this fight for over five long years because it is bigger than one man or one party. It is about accountability and fairness. I am sick thinking about all the taxpayer money that has been wasted. At long last the charade should today be over and we should get these documents transmitted to the desk of our committee chairman as soon as possible.”
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Some of the former president’s tax returns are already public after anonymous leakers gave them to the New York Times. Democratic lawmakers want the documents to evaluate if annual presidential audits are effective, while Trump has fought against making the records public. Every president for the past several decades has voluntarily made their tax returns public.
Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee told the Washington Post they are “reviewing” their options, as their party will retain control of the Senate next term.
