Marine One carrying U.S. President Joe Biden departs from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., bound for Joint Base Andrews on May 29, 2024. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
A new bill from Rep. Katie Porter would make up to 12 years of tax returns for the president and vice president public.
Dubbed the Presidential Ethics Reform Act, Porter, D-Irvine, along with Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, said the bill aims to “restore public confidence in our government” by providing “full honesty and transparency” to the president and vice president.
The Presidential Ethics Reform Act would require the president and vice president to disclose tax returns and any payments, gifts or loans they received from foreign people, companies, governments or political parties for two years before taking office, while in office, and for two years after they leave office.
They will also be required to disclose any similar overseas payments, gifts or loans made to family members.
“A bipartisan presidential ethics reform bill would provide public access to the tax returns, gifts and other conflicts of interest of the president, vice president and their families, allowing the public to evaluate the actions of their leaders for themselves,” Porter said. “By increasing transparency and mandating additional financial disclosures, Congress can uncover improper executive branch conduct or be confident that no such conduct occurred.”
The bill would also require the president and vice president to disclose all gifts and loans (excluding commercial loans) over $10,000 that they have received from or been received by family members.
The bill defines family members as parents, children, siblings, spouses, stepfamily, stepfamily and half-siblings.
“Influence is a small industry in Washington, and we've seen that flaws in our current laws have led to a culture of corruption,” said Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. “By enacting this bipartisan legislation that provides greater transparency into financial transactions related to the duties of the president and vice president, we can ensure that going forward, the president of the United States, vice president, and their families cannot profit from their proximity to power.”
Porter told The Associated Press that the bill is “about the future and restoring faith in government, it's not about the past president.”
Former President Donald Trump was ordered to pay $355 million in fines earlier this year after a New York court found him guilty of misrepresenting his assets and committing fraud. The court ruled that Trump and his companies had falsified business records to inflate their assets and used fraudulent financial statements to obtain millions of dollars in loans.
As president, Trump refused to release his tax returns or financial records, but Democratic lawmakers challenged the decision and the case ultimately reached the Supreme Court, which in November 2022 authorized the release of Trump's tax data to the House Ways and Means Committee, which released it in December of that year.
According to CNN, the tax return detailed loan agreements between Trump and his children, foreign bank accounts he held while in office, and income from 16 countries.
President Joe Biden is the subject of a Republican-led investigation into his family, primarily into his son Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings and the president's possible involvement.
Asked whether the same standards should be applied to members of Congress and the judiciary, Porter told CNN he supports some ethics reforms in both the Supreme Court and Congress, such as extending a ban on congressional stock trading and a lobbying ban for former lawmakers.
“If this bill makes it to the Legislature, I expect other members will try to propose other types of ethics rules,” Porter said.
The Democrat, who ran for California's vacant U.S. Senate seat but lost in the primary, plans to finish her term in January and return to teaching law at the University of California, Irvine. After her loss, she said she was focused on “electing candidates who understand the importance of rejecting corporate political action committee money and fighting the influence of money in politics.”
The bill has been referred to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and is awaiting consideration.