Democrats push judge for quick action on Trump tax returns lawsuit

House Democrats are looking to speed up their lawsuit against the Treasury Department and IRS over their refusal to turn over President Trump's tax returns.

The Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday filed a motion in federal court in Washington, D.C., for summary judgment, asking Judge Trevor McFadden to direct Treasury and the IRS to comply with the committee's requests and subpoenas for six years of the president's federal tax returns. 

The committee also asked McFadden, a Trump appointee, to consider the case on an expedited basis, proposing a schedule under which briefs on relevant issues would be filed by Oct. 25 with oral arguments taking place "as soon as practicable" after that.

The Ways and Means Committee filed the lawsuit in July, after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig rejected the requests and subpoenas.

In arguing on Tuesday that the judge should direct the administration to provide the tax returns, the committee said that the "defendants’ defiance is an extraordinary departure from established principles of law."