Supreme Court Clears Way For House Committee To Access Trump’s Tax Returns

The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for a House committee to access former President Donald Trump‘s tax returns, putting an end to a legal battle of more than three years.

The court’s decision is a major loss for Trump, who has been trying to shield his tax information since 2019 when the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee requested the files, saying they could inform potential legislation related to the IRS’s presidential audit program.

No justices noted dissent in the brief order denying an attempt by Trump to block access to his tax returns. The decision means that the Treasury Department is cleared to turn over six years of Trump’s tax return, as requested by the House committee.

It’s not clear if the committee will publish the returns.

Rep. Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts), the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement that the commission would “now conduct the oversight that we’ve sought for the last three and a half years.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-New Jersey), who also has been involved in filing the request, praised the decision.

“It has been 1,329 days since our committee sought Donald Trump’s tax returns — almost as long as the American Civil War,” he said in a statement. “And for 1,329 days, our request made under law has been delayed, obfuscated and blocked by Donald Trump and his adjutants in the government and the courts.”