Update: It's a temporary win for Donald Trump. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday put a temporary hold on the handover of the former president's federal income tax returns to a congressional committee, the AP reports. The order gives the House Ways and Means Committee until Nov. 10 to respond to Trump's emergency appeal, which was filed Monday, per CNBC. Before the ruling, the Treasury Department was expected to provide the tax returns to the committee as early as Thursday. Our original story from Monday follows:
Former President Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court on Monday in a last-ditch effort to keep a House committee from seeing his tax returns. A federal appeals court had rejected Trump's request last week. The emergency filing says, "This case raises important questions about the separation of powers that will affect every future President," Axios reports. In a ruling that went against the former president last December, a federal judge appointed by Trump said he is "wrong on the law."
The House Ways and Means Committee asked the IRS for the returns for an evaluation of the agency's presidential audit program, per USA Today, calling it a "plainly legitimate area for congressional inquiry and possible legislation." In July 2021, the Justice Department agreed that the committee has sufficient justification for seeing the returns. Trump's Monday filing says the only reason the committee wants the records is to release them to the public. "The Committee's purpose in requesting President Trump's tax returns has nothing to do with funding or staffing issues" at the Internal Revenue Service, his lawyers wrote. Trump asked that a stay be issued by Wednesday, giving him time to prepare a formal appeal to present to the court. (More Trump tax return stories.)
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