- The order is temporary and intended to give both sides time to file written arguments.
- Trump wants the Supreme Court to block the Ways and Means Committee from obtaining his tax returns.
WASHINGTON – Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily blocked the House Ways & Means Committee from obtaining former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, giving both sides until later this week to submit arguments in the case.
The administrative order will put any action in the case on hold.
Trump on Monday had asked the Supreme Court to intervene in his long-running legal battle with the House Ways & Means Committee over access to years’ worth of his tax returns. The request came to the nation’s highest court days after the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to reconsider an August ruling by a three-judge panel that unanimously sided with the House committee in the dispute.
Trump is asking the Supreme Court to pause enforcement of the appeals court ruling so that he has time to submit a formal appeal of the decision to the high court.
“This case raises important questions about the separation of powers that will affect every future president,” Trump said in legal papers Monday. “The committee’s purpose in requesting President Trump’s tax returns has nothing to do with funding or staffing issues at the IRS and everything to do with releasing the president’s tax information to the public.”
Roberts, who handles emergency appeals from the D.C. Circuit, gave the Ways and Means Committee until Thursday to respond.
