U.S. congressional Democrats on Wednesday grappled with the daunting task of reviewing six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns as Republicans prepared to take control of the House of Representatives in less than six weeks.
Members of the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee said they hope to receive Trump’s returns as soon as next week after the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Trump’s bid to shield the records from congressional scrutiny.While the documents, first sought by the committee in 2019 while Trump was still president, will remain subject to federal confidentiality restrictions, Democratic lawmakers could make some details public, possibly after a vote by the full House.
Democrats have until Jan. 3 to review the documents before Republicans take control of the House, after winning a slim majority in the Nov. 8 midterm elections, and shut down the investigation. Ways and Means Democrats have said they need to see Trump’s records to assess whether the Internal Revenue Service is properly auditing presidential tax returns and to gauge whether new legislation is needed.
Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Ways and Means Democrat, said members of the panel may have to work through weekends and the holidays to review Trump’s tax returns.
