Politics

McCarthy, who has been the top House Republican since 2019, is backed by a majority of his conference, some of whom say no one else is better for the role. But his long-held aspirations to wield the gavel are being obstructed by a small group of Republicans who say they are intent on withholding their support in exchange for concessions that would limit a speaker’s power — and thus increase the influence of other members.

Five Republicans have outright said they won’t support McCarthy during the vote for speaker on Tuesday.

Nine others have said they remain unconvinced, even after McCarthy gave ground on some demands such as making it easier to remove a sitting speaker, sources told ABC News.

The Californian’s footing is weaker than his party expected after Republicans emerged from the midterm election with a 222-212 majority, with one vacancy. McCarthy must win the majority of representatives who cast a ballot for speaker on Tuesday, excluding those who vote “present.”

Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., a McCarthy critic, told Fox News on Monday that he anticipates “10 to 15” Republicans will vote against McCarthy during the first ballot, a number he suggested could rise in subsequent rounds.

“I think you’ll see on the second ballot an increasing number of members vote for a true candidate who can represent the conservative center of the conference, can motivate the base,” Good said.

In a conference call on Sunday, McCarthy said he would support lowering the threshold to trigger a vote to oust a speaker, sources said. During the call, he said he would accept allowing just five members to bring what is known as a motion to vacate, a tool that was used to help oust then-Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in 2015. Current GOP rules require half of House Republicans to support such a move before a vote is held.

Also, a rules package Republicans released on Sunday details expanded oversight of the Biden administration, which is a major conservative priority. Under the rules, once adopted, the House will establish a select committee on the COVID-19 pandemic to investigate the virus’ origins, the government’s response, the development of vaccines and treatments and corresponding mandates for federal employees.

The rules package also includes language for the creation of a select panel under the House Judiciary Committee to focus on “strategic competition” between the U.S. and China’s government as well as the “weaponization of the federal government,” a seeming reference to Republican criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of some figures like Donald Trump.

Still, McCarthy doesn’t yet appear to have the necessary support. The five lawmakers who have vowed to vote against him showed no signs of budging as of Monday, and nine other Republicans released a letter suggesting his compromises didn’t go far enough.

“Despite some progress achieved, Mr. McCarthy’s statement comes almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies ahead of the opening of the 118th Congress on January 3rd,” the group wrote in a letter obtained by ABC News.

While McCarthy may be able to garner more backing during a closed-door conference meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, shortly before the speaker vote begins at noon, his detractors are boasting that they’ll be able to muster the necessary opposition to block him.

“We may see the cherry blossoms bloom in Washington, D.C. before a Speaker is elected,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a McCarthy critic, has said.

Those opposed to McCarthy may be able to deny or delay him the speakership, but they are drastically outnumbered by Republicans who say they support him, including Trump and other prominent lawmakers.

The group of so-called “only Kevin” members have said they won’t consider voting for anyone else.

A drawn-out speakership vote would make some history — and be a repeat of McCarthy’s 2015 speakership bid, which was sunk when McCarthy realized he didn’t have the support of a small but necessary group of Republicans.

The last time it took more than one ballot to elect a speaker was exactly 100 years ago, when Fredrick Huntington Gillet won out after nine rounds of votes.

The House can conduct no other business until it has selected its speaker. Some who are backing McCarthy stress this point: that a prolonged or chaotic speaker vote prevents Republicans from governing and implementing what they campaigned on.

There have been rumors that Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., McCarthy No. 2 and one of his supporters, could ultimately run for speaker. Multiple sources told ABC News that Scalise would be open to a speakership run if McCarthy’s candidacy becomes nonviable and that some in the GOP minority opposed to McCarthy have made it known to Scalise that they would support him.

Among more centrist members, talk has continued of finding a compromise candidate with Democrats — a possibility Democratic leadership has played down — if McCarthy can’t corral the necessary support within his own party.

“I will support Kevin McCarthy, but if we do get to that point, I do want the country to work and we need to govern. We can’t sit neutral; we can’t have total gridlock for two years,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told NBC News in November.

McCarthy is already residing in the speaker’s office on Capitol Hill as his party prepares to enter the majority. He was seen meeting there on Monday with some two dozen representatives, including those publicly opposed to him as speaker like Gaetz.

As Rep. Jordan walked into the McCarthy meeting he was asked if he would run for speaker if McCarthy couldn’t get the votes. “No,” he said. “I want to be chair of judiciary.” 

Asked by reporters earlier on Monday how he felt about the upcoming speaker vote, McCarthy replied: “Hope you all have a nice New Year’s.”

ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Since the rise of work-from-home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington is among many American cities that have wrestled with vacant office space while simultaneously battling a lack of affordable housing.

On Monday, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called on President Joe Biden to either end work-from-home telework policies for federal government employees or turn over vacant government buildings in the nation’s capital for housing in a new push to move 100,000 new residents into the city.

The federal government accounts for one-third of properties owned or leased in Washington and a quarter of the city’s pre-pandemic jobs.

The city is utilizing tax breaks to encourage the conversion of vacant office buildings as a solution to the lack of housing but Bowser says Biden needs to help.

“We need decisive action by the White House to either get most federal workers back to the office, most of the time, or to realign their vast property holdings for use by the local government, by nonprofits, by businesses and by any user willing to revitalize it,” she said.

Bowser notes that currently 25,000 people currently call downtown D.C. home. She says the city will “add 15,000 residents over the next five years and 87,000 more before it’s all said and done.” Currently, 92% of the central business district consists of commercial space, residential space only accounts for 8%. That’s according to Bowser’s Housing in Downtown Abatement Program, which the mayor’s office seeks to encourage a rise in new residential conversion projects.

CBRE, a global commercial real estate company that has studied office conversions, notes that only 218 office conversions were completed in the U.S. between 2016 to 2021 an average of 36 conversions a year. However, by early December 2022, CBRE says 42 buildings had been converted within the last year. Boston leads the market with 38 building conversions, San Francisco Peninsula with 28, and D.C. and Los Angeles were tied for third with 11 building conversions each. Many of the cities that out-ranked D.C., unlike Washington, don’t have to negotiate with the federal government as a landlord.

In December, in an effort to promote a reimagined downtown, Mayor Bowser announced the conversion of the old Vanguard building that headquartered the Peace Corps for decades. The building will be converted to the Elle Apartments and is expected to add 163 residential units when it opens in May 2024.

Bowser said in December, “We have seen how mixed-use communities are more resilient in the face of adversity. By converting vacant offices into homes, we can put these spaces back to productive use, add much-needed housing, and create a vibrant downtown where people live, work, and play.”

Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio said in December that the city’s downtown reimagination strategy has three key points: “Change the space, fill the space, and bring the people.”

Falcicchio added, “creating new housing in downtown will lead to a more vibrant neighborhood and a 24/7 economy. The Housing in Downtown Abatement Program will incentivize more conversions, and bring about more housing affordability and retail opportunities.”

D.C., which has over 20 million square feet of vacant office space, hopes that the Housing in Downtown Abatement Program will incentivize future residential transformations by offering tax relief to buildings that include at least 15% of total units to be affordable to 60% of people who qualify for the median family income threshold, which is $103,200 for a four-person family.

Bower’s historic third term as the first Black woman mayor to serve three consecutive four-year terms will be met by a new Congress and new GOP leadership. Despite D.C.’s lack of statehood, Bowser is vowing to continue to fight for Washington’s autonomy. At her swearing-in Monday, she noted, “as this new Congress starts, I promise to keep fighting for control over everything that we need in the district, protecting our bodily autonomy, the ability to tax and regulate our businesses, and to provide services to our justice-involved youth.”

The Office of Personnel Management, the chief human resources agency for the federal government, did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment.

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(WASHINGTON) — With the 118th Congress set to begin Tuesday, House Republican leaders are out with their proposed rules for the new legislative session.

In what marks a substantial concession from Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican vying for the speakership, the rules package would allow just five Republicans to force a vote on ousting a speaker. For a Congress with at least a handful of “Never Kevin” Republicans, that provision means McCarthy’s potential speakership could be short-lived.

Republicans, who will gain the majority with a thin margin over Democrats, are poised to hit the ground running by restoring the chamber to pre-COVID order. In a “Dear Colleague” letter Sunday night saying “Congress is broken and needs to change,” McCarthy said he would immediately halt proxy voting in the House.

Committee chairs would have limited authority “to allow [non-governmental] witnesses to appear remotely at” proceedings under the new rules.

GOP leaders would also remove entry magnetometers, create a new select committee on the alleged “weaponization” of the DOJ and FBI, and more, per the new rules.

But for those changes to take effect, the House will need to pass the Republican majority’s rules package in what will be the chamber’s first order of business after electing a speaker, a process that could take longer than usual when Congress convenes Tuesday.

In what might be one of the most visible changes after the House approves the rules, McCarthy said he would promptly order magnetometers removed from outside the chamber. The Democrat-controlled House installed the devices at the chamber entrances in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack to prevent weapons from being brought to the House floor.

They quickly became a lightning rod for some Republican lawmakers who would protest the additional security measures by walking around them altogether. Violators — like Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert, Andrew Clyde, and Jim Baird — faced fines of $5,000 to $10,000.

And the rules would create new select committees on everything from COVID-19 to U.S.-China competition and what Republicans claim is “the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”

The Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic would make a significant item on many Republicans’ wish lists a reality. According to the proposed rules, the committee would investigate COVID’s origins, “the impact of school closures on American children,” and the development of vaccines and corresponding federal mandates.

House Republicans are targeting President Joe Biden directly in at least two areas with their new rules. The package would allow the House to consider stripping the Internal Revenue Service of additional resources Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act made available to the agency last summer.

Additionally, the chamber would consider preventing non-emergency drawdowns from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a tool the Biden administration has regularly used amid rising gas prices in recent months.

Other federal employees could soon become targets of a GOP-controlled House. The proposed rules package would allow legislation to zero out a government official’s salary, cut specific government programs, or even fire specific federal employees. For a Republican Party with some members who championed the #FireFauci movement, this rule is a notable inclusion.

The House Committee on Ethics would face reform under the proposed rules, too. If the chamber passes the proposal, the committee would need to establish “a process to receive complaints directly from the public.”

That could be notable in the context of GOP Rep.-elect George Santos, who faces allegations that he fabricated much of his background. If Republican leaders do not refer him to the committee themselves, the public could lodge complaints against him, per the proposed rules.

The rules also permit the House speaker to recognize any member to read the Constitution aloud on the House floor until the end of February. It is a notable provision for a Republican leader who, in November, vowed his members would “read every single word of the Constitution aloud” on the first day of the new Congress.

Responding to the House GOP’s rule package, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said, “It is disappointing, but not surprising, that House Republicans have put forward a rules package that undermines mainstream values and furthers an extreme agenda.”

ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The 118th Congress will see a number of historic “firsts” — the first woman and LGBTQ representative from Vermont, the first Latina representatives from Oregon and the first member of Generation Z, those born from 1997 to 2012.

That 25-year-old, Maxwell Frost, will be the youngest member of a legislative body where the average lawmaker is more than twice his age when he’s sworn in on Jan. 3 as a Democratic member representing Florida’s 10th Congressional District.

Frost’s first order of business may be finding a place to live in Washington.

While he’ll be going from driving Ubers to making $174,000 a year as a member of Congress, Frost said he’s struggled to find an apartment because of bad credit — and sat down with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent and “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl just after learning one of his applications had been rejected.

“It’s not cheap,” Frost told Karl in an exclusive interview at Capitol Hill institution Bullfeathers. “I’m dealing with it right now, getting denied from apartments, trying to figure out where to live because I have bad credit. I’m probably just going to have to, like, couch surf for a little bit.”

Frost is a newcomer to elected office but is no stranger to politics. He’s worked for 10 years as an advocate for increased gun regulation, including with March for Our Lives — the group formed by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas students following the Parkland, Florida, school mass shooting in 2018.

He credits the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre as the catalyst for his political activism. He said he remembers exactly where he was when he heard the news about that shooting in 2012 — with his friends at a restaurant before a high school jazz band concert.

“We looked up at the television screens and saw that somebody walked into an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and murdered 20 children and six teachers and I remember at the show that night I was playing, [I] couldn’t think straight, kept looking at the exits,” Frost recalled to Karl. “I was very anxious. And it’s really what propelled me to come up here to the vigil and dedicate my life to fighting for a world where there’s no gun violence.”

In June, Frost confronted Gov. Ron Desantis, R-Fla., to act on gun violence during an event of his. Frost was escorted out by security and DeSantis told him, “Nobody wants to hear from you.” After the moment went viral, Frost featured the interaction in a campaign ad.

Frost told Karl he decided to show up to the event “in the spirit of direct action and protest.”

“This was about a week and a half after the Uvalde shooting [in Texas]. He hadn’t said a single word about ending gun violence,” Frost said. “And so, we came to him more with a plea and what I got in return was ‘nobody wants to hear from you’ — getting dragged out by security, having popcorn thrown at me and people yelling curse words and racial slurs.”

While he identifies as a progressive, Frost said would support President Joe Biden if Biden seeks reelection in 2024. Pressed by Karl if he would encourage the president to run again, Frost said he would.

“Joe Biden wasn’t my first choice in the primaries,” said Frost, who previously worked on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the work that the president’s done,” Frost added and pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act. “The whole package didn’t get passed but it sets a standard that a U.S. president said, ‘This is what the American people deserve,’ and now we can go out as progressives and moderates and as Democrats and say, ‘This is the president’s agenda, let’s get it passed,’ and I think that’s important.”

Frost said that while he understands the importance of compromise, he hopes to never lose sight of his “North Star.”

“I think we’re in this politics now where people are scared to talk about their North Star,” Frost said. “And I think it’s important that we not lose sight of that — health care for everybody, ending gun violence, combating the climate crisis. These things are really important. And even though we’re not going to get it next year, you can’t take a first step in a journey if you don’t know where you’re going.”

But Karl noted that “with Democrats you have a debate between those that want to take the incremental win and those that say, ‘No, we’ve got to hold out for something bigger.'”

“I think it’s less of an ideological battle and more of a battle of figuring out what are we talking about and what are we doing in this moment,” Frost responded. “It’s not that progressives and — it’s not that me, that I don’t believe in incremental change, right? I’ve been working in gun violence for 10 years. We just got some incremental change with the bipartisan gun safety package that was passed. It wasn’t everything that we need, but it’s a good first step to ensuring that we end gun violence.”

“I think it’s important to realize that it’s OK to ask for a lot. In fact, that’s why people have sent us here,” Frost added. “It doesn’t mean we’re not going to compromise for something else, but it means we shouldn’t show up at the debate already at the compromise.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Arkansas’ Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday that the pro-Trump Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Capitol Hill “disqualifies” Donald Trump from winning the 2024 GOP nomination as he considers his own challenge to the former president.

“I do not believe that Donald Trump should be the next president of the United States. I think he’s had his opportunity there. I think Jan. 6 really disqualifies him for the future. And so, we move beyond that. And that’s what I want to be focused on,” Hutchinson, who will soon travel to the early primary state of Iowa, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.

Karl pressed Hutchinson on if that view meant he definitively wouldn’t support Trump should Trump emerge as the Republican nominee for the White House in two years.

Hutchinson demurred and only said he would consider the options out of what is likely to be a crowded field.

“I want to see what the alternatives are. And it’s premature, Jonathan, to get into what might happen in 2024. That issue will come up. But I want to see everything I can do to make sure there is the alternative and that Donald Trump is not the nominee of the party. That’s the first thing, and let’s figure out how to do that,” Hutchinson said.

His comments come after the House panel investigating the 2021 Capitol attack recently referred criminal charges for Trump and others to the Justice Department over their alleged roles in the violence, including what the committee said was Trump conspiring to defraud the U.S. and aiding the insurrectionists.

Trump has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong and accused the House committee of politically persecuting him.

Hutchinson has consistently said he does not think Trump should be the 2024 nominee but acknowledged in his “This Week” interview that the former president remains the “front-runner,” citing recent polling and his name recognition from his celebrity status and four years in the White House.

Still, Hutchinson said he disagrees with considerations by the party to insert a rule into 2024 primary debates binding presidential candidates to support the GOP’s ultimate nominee.

“I think it would be a mistake to do that. I think it’s obvious that you’ve got a divided party in the sense that you’ve got a base of loyal Trump supporters. But you’ve got what to me is even a larger majority of those that say, ‘We want to go a different direction,'” he said.

Hutchinson has strongly suggested that he’ll make a run of his own after Trump launched his third presidential campaign in November. But he told Karl that there was nothing to announce yet.

“Obviously, I’m going to Iowa later this month. I’m excited about that. But no decision has been made now. And we can’t make a decision until a little bit later. But I want to be a part of the solutions for America,” he said.

That vision of problem-solving, he said, was one way other conservatives could differentiate themselves from Trump in the lead-up to the 2024 race.

“He does not define the Republican Party. And we have to have other voices. … It’s an opportunity for other voices to rise that’s going to be problem-solving, commonsense conservatives. And they can shape the future of the Republican Party but also provide the right counterbalance to [President Joe] Biden’s failed policies. And, to me, that’s what we have to do in 2023,” Hutchinson said.

Looking ahead to other possible 2024 contenders, Hutchinson said that Trump — despite his continued popularity within the GOP — no longer had the appeal of being “new” on the political scene. He argued that Trump’s blend of “chaos” and “anger” could be a turnoff.

“That’s not a new thing anymore. And so I think people move away from it rather than embrace it,” he said.

“You need to have simply a message that’s authentic to yourself, a message that is problem-solving and say, ‘This is what we need to do as a country.’ And that, to me, is the right contrast,” he said.

Hutchinson, who served four years in the House before serving in other federal and state roles, also knocked Rep.-elect George Santos, R-N.Y., after it was revealed following Santos’ midterm election victory that he fabricated or embellished several parts of his resume and personal life.

“There has to be accountability for that. That is unacceptable. I don’t know whether you can go so far as to not seat him but certainly the Ethics Committee should deal with this, and he has to be held accountable for that,” Hutchinson said. “That’s unacceptable in politics. It breaches the trust between the electorate and their elected official.”

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(WASHINGTON) — House Republican Whip Steve Scalise sent a letter to his colleagues Friday outlining the party’s legislative agenda once it takes over the chamber in the new year.

Scalise, who has been elected to become the next House majority leader, laid out a handful of bills that will be brought to the floor in the first two weeks of the next Congress — many of which would counter the work done by Democrats over the past four years.

“The American people spoke on November 8th and decided it was time for a new direction,” Scalise wrote.

“The last two years have been tough on hard-working families as they have grappled with drastic increases in the cost of living, safety concerns with violent crime skyrocketing in our communities, soaring gas and home heating prices, and a worsening crisis at our Southern border,” he added.

The list of legislation includes a bill to rescind billions of dollars allocated for the Internal Revenue Service in the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats passed with zero Republican support.

Republicans assert the funding will result in the hiring of 87,000 IRS agents to target middle-income families, which the Treasury Department has said is not the case. Democrats said the money is needed to modernize the agency and replace a retiring workforce.

Another bill to be brought forward by the GOP would make permanent the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old provision that has banned federal funding for most abortions. President Joe Biden supported the amendment for years but reversed his position in 2019 and Democrats tried to get rid of the provision in a spending bill last year but the effort failed.

According to Scalise, the GOP will also bring forward separate legislation to establish a China select committee, block “non-emergency” drawdowns from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and give the Department of Homeland Security secretary power to turn away migrants at the border absent “operational control.”

While Republicans are set to take back control of the House for the first time since 2018 next week, many of the measures are likely to face an uphill in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

In the letter, Scalise also encouraged his colleagues to vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy for speaker on Jan. 3.

McCarthy’s bid to become the chamber’s leader has been complicated by opposition from a group of hard-line conservatives who say the California congressman isn’t doing enough to push back against Democrats, especially after the GOP’s disappointing performance in the midterm elections.

Official business in the House, including establishing committees, holding votes and seating members, will not be able to start until a new speaker is elected.

Scalise told his colleagues that he recognizes that it will take time for committees to get established in the new Congress, but said the bills that he plans to bring forward first are “ready-to-go” legislation.

“These commonsense measures will address challenges facing hard- working families on issues ranging from energy, inflation, border security, life, taxpayer protection, and more,” the congressman wrote. “They should garner wide support and provide an indication of our bold agenda to come.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Friday announced six full pardons granted by President Joe Biden.

“Today, President Biden is granting six full pardons for individuals who have served their sentences and have demonstrated a commitment to improving their communities and the lives of those around them,” a White House official said. “These include individuals who honorably served in the U.S. military, volunteer in their communities, and survived domestic abuse.”

Those being pardoned are Gary Davis of Yuma, Arizona; Edward Lincoln De Coito III of Dublin, California; Vincente Ray Flores of Winters, California; Beverly Ann Ibn-Tamas of Columbus, Ohio; Charlie Byrnes Jackson of Swansea, South Carolina; and John Dix Nock III of St. Augustine, Florida.

Five of the people pardoned served sentences for drug or alcohol-related crimes while they were relatively young, according to the White House.

Davis, now 66, was 22 years old when he pleaded guilty to using a telephone to facilitate an unlawful cocaine transaction.

Jackson, now 77, pleaded guilty to one count of possession and sale of distilled spirits without tax stamps when he was 18 years old.

Nock, now 72 years old, pleaded guilty nearly three decades ago to one count of renting and making for use, as an owner, a place for the purpose of manufacturing marijuana plants.

One of the individuals pardoned served in the military and one remains on active duty. Flores pleaded guilty at a special court-martial for consuming ecstasy and alcohol while serving in the military, and has since gone on to be awarded with multiple military honors. De Coito also received honors in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves before he pleaded guilty at the age of 23 to involvement in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy.

Ibn-Tamas, 80, was convicted of second-degree murder for killing her husband while pregnant at the age of 33. She testified he abused her during and prior to the pregnancy, but the court didn’t allow a battered women expert to testify in her case.

“President Biden believes America is a nation of second chances, and that offering meaningful opportunities for redemption and rehabilitation empowers those who have been incarcerated to become productive, law-abiding members of society,” the White House official said.

“The president remains committed to providing second chances to individuals who have demonstrated their rehabilitation — something that elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree our criminal justice system should offer,” the official added.

The year-end pardons add to Biden’s clemency list. The president pardoned three people in April, including the first Black Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail.

Then, in October, Biden announced he was pardoning thousands of individuals convicted of marijuana possession under federal law. The White House said at the time the executive action would benefit 6,500 people.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee on Friday publicly released documents related to former President Donald Trump’s tax returns covering the six years from 2015-2020.

The move comes after committee members voted 24-16 last week to release the documents after sensitive information — like bank account numbers and Social Security numbers — had been redacted.

Trump has long fought to keep his tax records private.

Trump released a statement Friday pushing back on the House committee for making the records public while also claiming they “show how proudly successful” he has been.

“The Democrats should have never done it, the Supreme Court should have never approved it, and it’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people,” Trump said. “The great USA divide will now grow far worse. The Radical Left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street!”

Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told reporters last Tuesday that the committee found there was no ongoing audit of Trump’s tax returns during his presidency until the committee requested them, despite an IRS requirement that tax returns filed by a sitting president or vice president are subject to audit.

Neal said the audit only began in 2019 after he requested the returns and said the audits of the requested returns were never completed.

“The tax forms were really never audited and only my sending a letter at one point prompted a rearview mirror response,” Neal said.

The committee had requested six years’ worth of Trump’s returns from the Treasury Department as part of what it said was an investigation into IRS audit practices of presidents and vice presidents.

Trump has accused the committee of seeking his taxes under false pretenses, saying the probe is just a politically motivated fishing expedition. But the committee said the documents were critical for drafting “legislation on equitable tax administration, including legislation on the President’s tax compliance.”

According to a summary released last week by the committee, Trump and his wife, Melania, together reported $31.7 million in losses and reported $641,931 in net taxes during the first year of Trump’s presidential campaign, in 2015.

During the 2016 presidential election year, the two again reported losing $32.4 million in adjusted gross income and paid just $750 in taxes, according to the committee. During Trump’s first year in office, the couple reported losing $12.9 million and again paid $750 in taxes.

In 2018, their adjusted gross income went up, with them bringing in $24.3 million, and they reported paying $999,456 in taxes. In 2019, the two reported making $4.4 million and paid $133,445 in taxes.

In 2020, they reported losing $4.8 million and Trump paid $0 in taxes.

The top Republican on the committee, Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, has said Democrats made a major mistake in a “rush to target” Trump by releasing his tax returns.

“Ways and Means Democrats are unleashing a dangerous new political weapon that reaches far beyond President Trump, and jeopardizes the privacy of every American,” Brady said in a statement.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee on Friday publicly released documents related to former President Donald Trump’s tax returns covering the six years from 2015-2020.

The move comes after committee members voted 24-16 last week to release the documents after sensitive information — like bank account numbers and Social Security numbers — had been redacted.

Trump has long fought to keep his tax records private.

Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told reporters last Tuesday that the committee found there was no ongoing audit of Trump’s tax returns during his presidency until the committee requested them, despite an IRS requirement that tax returns filed by a sitting president or vice president are subject to audit.

Neal said the audit only began in 2019 after he requested the returns and said the audits of the requested returns were never completed.

“The tax forms were really never audited and only my sending a letter at one point prompted a rearview mirror response,” Neal said.

The committee had requested six years’ worth of Trump’s returns from the Treasury Department as part of what it said was an investigation into IRS audit practices of presidents and vice presidents.

Trump has accused the committee of seeking his taxes under false pretenses, saying the probe is just a politically motivated fishing expedition. But the committee said the documents were critical for drafting “legislation on equitable tax administration, including legislation on the President’s tax compliance.”

According to a summary released last week by the committee, Trump and his wife, Melania, together reported $31.7 million in losses and reported $641,931 in net taxes during the first year of Trump’s presidential campaign, in 2015.

During the 2016 presidential election year, the two again reported losing $32.4 million in adjusted gross income and paid just $750 in taxes, according to the committee. During Trump’s first year in office, the couple reported losing $12.9 million and again paid $750 in taxes.

In 2018, their adjusted gross income went up, with them bringing in $24.3 million, and they reported paying $999,456 in taxes. In 2019, the two reported making $4.4 million and paid $133,445 in taxes.

In 2020, they reported losing $4.8 million and Trump paid $0 in taxes.

The top Republican on the committee, Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, has said Democrats made a major mistake in a “rush to target” Trump by releasing his tax returns.

“Ways and Means Democrats are unleashing a dangerous new political weapon that reaches far beyond President Trump, and jeopardizes the privacy of every American,” Brady said in a statement.

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(WASHINGTON) — More discrepancies are emerging about New York Rep.-elect George Santos’ background, adding to a growing list of fabrications and exaggerations that the incoming congressman has told about his life — some of which have drawn the attention of prosecutors.

In addition to having falsely said he attended Baruch College, which he has since admitted, another part of his education has now been challenged.

On an archived version of his 2020 congressional website, Santos said he went to the elite private school Horace Mann in New York City but did not graduate due to financial difficulties for his family. He said he went on to obtain his GED.

But a spokesperson for the school on Thursday confirmed to ABC News — and other outlets — that he never attended Horace Mann.

An attorney for Santos, Joseph Murray, initially pushed back on scrutiny of his background as “defamatory,” claiming it was a biased smear. Murray has since referred ABC News to Santos’ press team, who has not responded to requests for comment.

Another apparent contradiction in Santos’ biography surrounds the death of his mother, Fatima Devolder.

Santos’ wrote in a tweet in 2021 that “9/11 claimed my mother’s life…”

In an archived version of his campaign website, he said that his mother worked in the South Tower of the World Trade Center and survived the terror attack but died “a few years later.”

Today, his website states that his mother died from cancer but does not disclose if it was related to 9/11 and being exposed to Ground Zero.

Santos has seemingly revised the timeline of his mother’s death as well. In a tweet from December 2021, he wrote that the date marked the five-year anniversary of his mom dying — which would have been 2016 — despite previously saying her death was a “few years” after 9/11.

An obituary for his mother states that she died on Dec. 23, 2016, which matches Santos’ tweet last year, but it’s unclear how old she was when she died. The obituary said she was born in 1962, which means she would have been 54, but the obituary states that she was 64.

Santos has admitted to fabricating some parts of his background, including his education and employment history, and also exaggerating his Jewish ancestry. But he’s insisted in interviews that he’s “not a criminal,” suggesting he was guilty merely of “embellishing.”

“I think humans are flawed, and we all make mistakes,” Santos said during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. “I think we can all look at ourselves in the mirror and admit that once in our life we made a mistake. I’m having to admit this on national television for the whole country to see.”

But Santos seemed to backtrack on some of his admissions of actual falsehoods on his resume during the Fox News interview, saying that his claim that he worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup is “debatable” as Link Bridge, a firm he served as vice president for, did “extensive” business with the two Wall Street giants.

Both Goldman and Citigroup have said they have no record he was employed there.

Santos, a Republican, has said he intends to take his House seat despite the controversy and “be effective” as a lawmaker, as he told The New York Post this week.

He has been facing a growing chorus of criticism from Democrats and some fellow Republicans, including calls that he resign and be investigated by the House Ethics Committee.

Local, state and federal prosecutors are also looking at some of the claims regarding Santos’ background, including his financial disclosures, ABC News reported. He has not been accused of any crimes.

Santos has allegedly been telling local Republican leaders he will not seek reelection in 2024, according to the Nassau County Republican chairman.

In response to that information, Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Cairo said, “I don’t know what party would endorse him as a candidate. This Republican committee will not support George Santos in 2024.”

In Nassau County, in the district where Santos was elected last month, Courage for America and Unrig our Economy on Thursday held a press conference at the courthouse along with community leaders demanding Congress open an investigation.

Linda Beigel Schulman, who said she lived on Long Island her entire life, went after Santos for his false and unsubstantiated statements, such as previously saying in a news interview that he lost employees in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida. The New York Times reported that it could find no links between the identified Pulse victims and businesses associated with Santos.

Beigel Schulman’s son, Scott Beigel, was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting; he was a geography teacher at the school.

“How dare he try to score political points or gain sympathy by lying about losing employees?” she said.

“I know all too well and all too deep, the sense of loss and grief about someone you know or someone you love, who was killed by gun violence,” she said.

Beigel Schulman also said she took issue with Santos’ exaggerations about his Jewish ancestry, with an earlier version of his biography saying his maternal grandparents fled persecution during World War II and resettled in Brazil. He has said his mother was Jewish.

But The Forward, a Jewish news outlet, reviewed genealogical information and found that Santos’ maternal grandparents were born in Brazil.

During the New York Post interview, Santos said he’s “clearly Catholic” but maintained that his grandmother told stories about being Jewish and later converting to Catholicism.

“I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was ‘Jew-ish,'” Santos said.

“Santos’ lies are insulting and demeaning to every child of a Holocaust survivor. How do I know because I am a child of a Holocaust survivor,” Beigel Schulman said on Thursday. “Outright, blatant lying and fabrication by those who want to be our representatives should not be accepted by any of us.”

Santos’ Democratic rival in the November election, Robert Zimmerman, spoke at the event, too.

“We demand that Congress conduct a House ethics investigation into George Santos,” Zimmerman said. “This moment is not about Democrat or Republican politics. This moment is about protecting our democracy, standing up for justice, and standing together in unity.”

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