Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee revealed he would support legislation that Presidents are required to share their tax returns, following the Committee receiving six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
On Thursday (December 1), Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) explained to reporters that it would be “a good idea” for Presidents to be required to share their tax returns.
However, he noted that he didn’t believe the requirement should apply to past Presidents.
Former President Donald Trump refused to make his tax returns public, like his predecessors had, noting the Internal Revenue Service was conducting an audit on his returns.
Neal’s comments to reporters followed a closed-door meeting where Democrats on the Committee had to discuss the legal and confidentiality constraints of reviewing and processing Trump and his business’s 2015 through 2020 tax returns.
He also stressed that Thursday’s meeting did not entail reviewing Trump’s tax returns, referring to claims that they had “false.”
On November 22, the Supreme Court ruled that the House Ways and Means Committee could gain access to Trump’s tax returns, ending a protracted legal battle by the Committee to access the returns.
Despite the victory in gaining the go-ahead to review the documents, the victory is likely to be short-lived as Congress sunsets shortly and the new GOP-led House is unlikely to continue pursuing the matter.
It’s either the Committee moves quickly or lets the saga go, something Neal doesn’t seem too keen on as he’s expressed his intentions to “stick with this to see this through.”
