The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday requiring the Internal Revenue Service to audit the president’s tax returns every year and publish the results. All four of the Utah Republicans in the House voted against the measure.
The bill was prompted by the revelation that the IRS failed to complete audits of Donald Trump during his four years in the White House, which ran counter to the agency’s policy of annual presidential audits.
The bill passed on a 221-201 vote, with five Republicans joining the majority Democrats in approving the bill.
Utah Reps. Blake Moore, John Curtis, Chris Stewart and Burgess Owens did not respond to emails asking for a comment on why they voted against the bill.
Since 1977, IRS policy has required an annual audit of presidential tax returns. The bill passed by the House on Thursday would write that requirement into federal law and mandate the release of the president’s tax returns, including returns for any business entities, within 90 days after filing them.
Thursday’s vote is largely symbolic as it’s unlikely the Senate will take up the measure before the new Congress is sworn in come January.
This week, a report from the House Ways and Means Committee revealed that the IRS did not audit Trump in 2017 and 2018, CNN reported. Trump was audited in 2019, but that was only conducted after congressional Democrats inquired about Trump’s tax returns. The IRS conducted annual audits of former President Barack Obama while he was in office and current President Joe Biden, according to The New York Times.
The report, according to Politico, raised several potential red flags with Trump’s tax returns. Trump’s returns show massive business losses between 2015 and 2020, including $60 million in losses in 2016. Trump also paid no federal income taxes in 2020.
The House Ways and Means Committee voted to publicly release Trump’s tax returns before the end of the year.
