Steve Mnuchin could be held in contempt of Congress over Trump tax return flub

A senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee is warning that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin could be held in contempt of Congress for the Trump administration's "stonewalling" on the president's tax returns.

Politico reported that Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, slammed the administration for missing its Wednesday deadline to deliver Donald Trump's tax returns to the panel.

Pascrell added that Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Chuck Rettig should consider stepping down over the move.

The New Jersey Democrat made the suggestion after Mnuchin's appearance before Congress earlier in the week that included a verbal sparring match with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) after he attempted to cut his Financial Services Committee hearing short.

“I want to take a look at contempt of Congress here,” Pascrell said, “because the way Mnuchin talked and the way he writes, he’s very dismissive of the legislative branch of government, particularly if that part of the legislative branch of government is controlled by the Democratic Party.”

Congress, the legislator added, must defend its Constitutional prerogatives.

Pascrell added that Commissioner Rettig should consider stepping down after Mnuchin, and not the IRS, responded to the committee's request for the president's tax returns.

During his two days of testimony on Capitol Hill this week, numerous Democratic members of Congress told Rettig that "Treasury secretaries have long deferred to the head of the IRS on these matters." Nonetheless, the Commissioner retained his defense that Treasury supervises the IRS.

“Now that IRS commissioner must stand up for America," Pascrell said, "or maybe he should leave his job if he can’t.”