A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that a House panel can obtain former President Donald Trump’s tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously ruled that the House Ways and Means Committee can obtain former President Donald Trump’s tax returns from the IRS

  • The court ruled that the request was within the scope of the panel's probe and did not violate the separation of powers

  • A lower court judge who was appointed by Trump rejected his arguments in the case at the end of last year

  • Despite the panel writing in a Twitter post that they "expect to receive the requested tax returns and audit files immediately," Trump could still appeal the ruling

In a unanimous 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the House Ways and Means Committee, saying that the request from Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., was within the scope of the panel's probe.

"The Chairman’s Request has not clearly gone beyond the scope of the Committee’s inquiry," the ruling reads. "It is understandable that the Committee would want to compare returns filed during the presidency with those filed in the years before and after to see what effect, if any, Mr. Trump being the sitting President had on how his returns were treated by the Presidential Audit Program."

"Further, there is no reason that the Chairman’s Request should be confined to a single year of returns and return information," the judges continued. "The Chairman has stated that the value of requesting six years of information is the ability to compare one year with another. And while it is possible that not every document requested by the Chairman will provide the Committee with the sought-after information, that is of no consequence."

The court also decided that such a request did not violate the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branch. 

“The Chairman’s request in this case passes muster under all suggested variations of the separation of powers analysis,” the opinion of the court reads.

The trio of judges were nominated by both Democrats and Republicans: Judge Karen Henderson, who was appointed by George H.W. Bush, Judge Robert Wilkins, picked by Barack Obama, and Judge David Sentelle, tapped by Ronald Reagan.

A lower court judge who was appointed by Trump rejected his arguments in the case at the end of last year.

“With great patience, we followed the judicial process, and yet again, our position has been affirmed by the Courts," Ways and Means Chair Neal wrote in a statement. "I’m pleased that this long-anticipated opinion makes clear the law is on our side. When we receive the returns, we will begin our oversight of the IRS’s mandatory presidential audit program.”

Despite the panel writing in a Twitter post Tuesday that they "expect to receive the requested tax returns and audit files immediately," Trump could still appeal the ruling

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.