Dems Won’t Immediately Demand Trump’s Tax Returns

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with members of the House Ways and Means committee in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with members of the House Ways and Means committee in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017, in Washingto... Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with members of the House Ways and Means committee in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) MORE LESS
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House Democrats are planning on waiting before requesting Trump’s tax returns, Politico reported Wednesday.

Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) took the helm of the Ways and Means Committee today, making him the only Democrat in Congress with the authority to request individual tax returns from the Treasury, under a little-known Twenties-era law.

“[Neal] wants to lay out a case about why presidents should be disclosing their tax returns before he formally forces him to do it,” Ways and Means Committee spokesman Dan Rubin told Politico.

Neal’s office did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.

Politico reported that Neal may wish to work with the Trump administration on areas of tax policy, and wouldn’t want to blow up the relationship with the tax return fight. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is expected to deny the request, leading to a court battle.

Yet, Democrats on the committee are proposing legislation that would mandate that presidential candidates disclose their past ten years of tax returns upon nomination by a political party.

Trump is the first president since Gerald Ford not to release his tax returns.

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