House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal indicated Tuesday that Democrats would go straight to federal court to try to force the administration to give up President Donald Trump’s tax returns, skipping a subpoena or a contempt vote.
“There doesn’t have to be any intermediary step. They seem not to be paying a lot of attention to the subpoenas, so take it from there,” Neal (D-Mass.
) told reporters, adding that he’d have a response by the end of this week to the rejection of his request for the returns.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday shot down Neal’s request for six years’ worth of Trump’s personal returns and some of his business filings. Mnuchin told Neal that, relying on Justice Department advice, he determined that the request “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose,” so Treasury isn’t “authorized” to disclose the returns.
Neal, in his fullest comments since Mnuchin’s decision said: “That’s what a federal judge will decide. We think the law is unambiguous.”
A court case could test the limits of Congress’ oversight authority, amid the Trump administration’s refusal to cooperate with other probes.
Democrats have cited a law that says the Treasury secretary “shall” provide the heads of Congress’ tax writing committees with returns when they request them. Mnuchin, in turn, has pointed to court rulings that lawmakers need a legitimate policy reason for their investigations.
Some Democrats have said that Mnuchin should be held in contempt of Congress. Neal said that “hasn’t been discussed at the moment. Technically the custodian of the records is the IRS commissioner so that’s where we’re proceeding.
”Asked whether IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, who was the recipient of Neal's request for the returns, could be held in contempt, Neal also said that hadn’t been discussed.
Kyle Cheney and Aaron Lorenzo contributed to this report.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine