After the Supreme Court stepped aside to allow Democrats from the House Ways and Means Committee to obtain and make public former President Trump’s private tax returns, Ways and Means Republican Leader Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued the following statement:

“The Supreme Court has no idea what their inaction unleashes. By effectively granting the majority party in either chamber of Congress nearly unlimited power to target and make public the tax returns of political enemies — political figures, private citizens, or even justices of the Supreme Court themselves — they are opening a dangerous new political battleground where no citizen is safe.

“The Court’s approval of Democrats’ flimsy guise of ‘reviewing presidential audit procedures’ turns on its head the current law protecting citizens against Congress using the IRS as a political weapon. 

“No party in Congress should hold this dangerous power. I hope lawmakers who value the privacy of tax returns act to close this massive loophole the courts have created.”