Washington, D.C. – Today, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady (R-TX) released the following statement after Democrat leadership filed a lawsuit to compel the President to turn over his tax returns:
“The Democrats’ partisan, flawed lawsuit continues their unprecedented and illegitimate pursuit to expose President Trump’s private tax information. This not only weaponizes the tax code and puts every taxpayer at risk, this lawsuit goes further and – for the first time – circumvents America’s democratic process by replacing the U.S. House’s voice with Nancy Pelosi’s voice.
“This is a dangerous course of action. For this reason, I am introducing a resolution to preserve the integrity of the People’s House from the attacks of the elite few and restore the voice of every American.”
BACKGROUND: The Committee on Ways and Means never voted to authorize any legal action regarding President Trump’s private tax returns. H. Res. 430, which passed the House in June on a party-line vote, authorized Speaker Nancy Pelosi, through the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), to subvert the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and initiate a lawsuit without approval of the Committee or the whole House. The BLAG is a Democrat-controlled group comprised of House Leadership led by the Speaker of the House.