Reuters
U.S. President Trump departs on travel to the Texas from the White House in Washington
- Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Richard Neal has set an April 23 deadline for the IRS to release six years of President Donald Trump's tax returns.
- The previous deadline was set for April 10.
- Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Trump's personal attorney have pushed back on the request, saying that it may go past Congressional authority.
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The Democratic chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on Saturday set a new April 23 deadline for the Internal Revenue Service to comply with his request for six years of President Donald Trump's personal and business tax returns.
In a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal said the tax agency's failure to comply with the new deadline would be interpreted as a denial of his request. The Trump administration has already failed to comply with an earlier April 10 deadline set by Neal.
Neal has argued that the committee is entitled to Trump's returns as part of its duty to oversee taxes, and says that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is obligated to fulfill the request.
Trump's personal attorney William S. Consovoy has pushed back against Congressional efforts to secure the president's tax returns, saying that requests raise "serious issues concerning the constitutional scope of congressional investigative authority." Mnuchin raised the same point on Wednesday.
In his two-page letter, Neal dismissed those concerns, saying they "lack merit."
Trump's tax returns have been a point of contention since his 2016 campaign. Trump is one of the only elected presidents in recent memory who has not released his tax returns. Trump has refused to release the returns, claiming he is under audit.
Limited information from Trump's taxes suggest that he used tax loopholes to save or recover millions of dollars.