The Treasury Department has made available six years of former President Trump's federal tax returns to the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee, a spokesperson confirmed to Axios Wednesday.
The big picture: House Democrats have been trying for years to obtain Trump's tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service as part of its investigation into the service’s presidential audit program, even as the former president fought for years to block its release.
- The Supreme Court last week denied Trump's emergency application asking it to block the committee from obtaining his tax returns.
Driving the news: "Treasury has complied with last week’s court decision," a Treasury spokesperson told Axios.
- Treasury declined to say whether the committee had accessed the documents, consistent with the guidelines of 6103.
- CNN first reported the committee had access to the returns.
- The House Ways and Means Committee did not immediately provide comment to Axios.
Background: After the Treasury Department denied the committee's request to turn over the documents in 2019, committee chair Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) filed a lawsuit enforcing its inquiry.
- Trump's lawyers argued the committee wanted to publish the records and didn't actually have a legitimate legislative purpose for them.
- The Department of Justice under the Biden administration argued in a 2021 opinion that the committee's request was legitimate and that the Trump-era Treasury Department had no valid reason to refuse it, Axios Jacob Knutson reports.
Of note: The tax returns are not expected to be released to the public any time soon, per CNN.
Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the Treasury Department made available, not sent, Trump's tax records to the House Ways and Means Committee. It has also been updated with additional background.
