Dave Reichert Votes Against Demanding Trump's Tax Returns (Again)

Donald Trump can count on Republican Dave Reichert to not ask for his tax returns. pool/getty

Democrats on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee tried again today to force the release of President Donald Trump's tax returns. Again, they failed, and again Washington Congressman Dave Reichert was among the votes against disclosure.

"This issue should not be... partisan," said Alabama Democratic Representative Terri Sewell during the debate leading up to the vote. "We should all care that our president may or may not have conflicts of interest and we should all care to know the truth."

The resolution in question would have directed the Secretary of the Treasury to provide the House with copies of Trump's tax returns from 2006 to 2015 and other financial information. Members voted along party lines on a motion to refer the resolution "unfavorably" to the full House, meaning Democrats who supported it voted "no" and Republicans voted "yes."

Throughout the debate, Republicans argued Democrats are merely on a political points-scoring mission.

"If you were being intellectually honest, you would go to the disclosures," said Arizona Representative David Schweikert, referring to the disclosure form Trump filed with the Federal Election Commission. Republicans claim that form offers the same information the tax returns would reveal. (PolitiFact disagrees.)

Democrats, meanwhile, added a new urgency to their call for the tax returns, saying they could show whether Trump stands to gain financially from the changes to the tax code his administration is expected to pursue soon.

"Given this president's evasiveness and his conflicts of interest," Washington Democrat Suzan DelBene said during the committee debate, "Congress has a Constitutional responsibility to use its authority to obtain records and to provide rigorous and unbiased oversight."

The Hill reports that along with the Ways and Means vote, the full House voted on a resolution about Trump's tax returns, too. That failed, with two Republicans breaking from their party.