Trump’s returns were to be shared with the Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee as early as Thursday. But Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday ordered a temporary halt to the Treasury Department’s transfer of documents while the Supreme Court reviews the matter. Roberts said the House committee may respond to its decision by Nov. 10, two days after Americans head to the polls for midterm elections that will determine which political party controls Congress for the next two years. Democrats control both the House of Representatives and the Senate by a narrow margin. But midterms have historically favored the party out of power, and nonpartisan analysts predict Republicans will take control of the House, the lower house of Congress, in the Nov. 8 election. While the balance of power would not change until January, when new members of Congress are sworn in, the shift to a Republican-controlled House would have significant implications for the Ways and Means Committee’s investigation into Trump’s taxes, as Republicans would be likely to retreat. the request for the former president’s records. Trump did not immediately comment on the Supreme Court’s order. The former president, who has been criss-crossing the country to support candidates he has endorsed before the midterms, has long fought to keep his tax records sealed. He is also considering another run for the White House in 2024. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit earlier this year ruled that the Democratic-led congressional committee could access Trump’s tax returns. Recommended Trump appealed that decision, arguing that the committee was overreaching by seeking access to excessive information. He said the commission, which had requested tax returns from 2015 to 2020, should review a maximum of one year’s worth of material and receive only audit documents instead of returns, according to legal filings. He also said that tax returns submitted when he was not in office were irrelevant to the commission, adding that its request was “excessive” as it did not guarantee confidentiality. A federal appeals court last week rejected Trump’s request to reconsider his decision. In a petition to the Supreme Court filed Monday, he said the ruling should be stayed because the commission’s request “enforces the separation of powers at some level” and the lower court’s ruling, if left untouched, “will have far-reaching implications effects”. . The Ways and Means Committee said it “maintains the law is on our side and will file a timely response as requested” and that its chairman, Richard Neill, “looks forward to the Supreme Court’s swift consideration.”
