The Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday to publicly release six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns. File photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Dec. 20 (UPI) — The House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday to publicly release six years of Donald Trump’s tax returns, following years of Democratic efforts to secure the former president’s financial records as Republicans take control of the House next month.
The Democratic-led committee voted to release Trump’s tax returns, which cover eight of his businesses, by a vote of 24-16 on Tuesday evening after meeting behind closed doors for more than three hours.
It is not clear when Trump’s tax documents, which were originally requested by the committee in 2019, will be made available to the public. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, told CNN it could take “a few days” to redact personal information, such as Social Security numbers.
While Democrats have argued they need the returns to assess an Internal Revenue Service program that audits presidents, Republicans have called it a politically motivated fishing expedition.
“This is one of the most important votes I will ever cast as a member of Congress, and I stand by it 100 percent,” Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said after Tuesday’s meeting.
“What was clear today is that public disclosure of President Trump’s private tax returns has nothing to do with the stated purpose of reviewing the IRS presidential audit process,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas.
The chairman of the committee, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said releasing Trump’s tax returns “was not about being punitive.”
“This was not about being malicious,” he said as he praised the panel for keeping sensitive information from being leaked.
Trump has continually refused to make his tax returns public since he was elected to the White House, drawing public and political criticism. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a plea by Trump’s lawyers to block the release of his financial information.
In addition to voting to release six years’ worth of Trump’s tax returns, the committee also released legislation to enshrine into law the presidential audit program, after Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., questioned whether the program was working properly.