The justices denied Mr Trump's October 31 emergency application to block a lower court's ruling that upheld a request by the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee for the tax records as a justified part of the panel's legislative work while his lawyers prepared an appeal.

No justice publicly dissented from the decision.

The fight over the committee's request is one of many legal woes Mr Trump faces as he moves forward with another run for the presidency in 2024.

Tuesday's order superseded one issued by Chief Justice John Roberts on November 1 that had effectively paused the dispute and prevented the panel from obtaining Mr Trump's returns while the court considered how to proceed.

Republicans, who secured a narrow house majority following the November 8 midterm elections, are poised to take over control of the committee in January.

Mr Trump was the first president in four decades not to release his tax returns as he sought to keep secret the details of his wealth and the activities of his real estate company, the Trump Organization.

The Ways and Means panel told the Supreme Court in a legal filing that siding with Mr Trump would harm the constitutional authority of a co-equal branch of government by in effect preventing Congress from completing any investigation involving a former president whenever there were allegations the investigation was politically motivated.

The panel, in its request, invoked a federal law that empowers its chairman to request any person's tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

House Democrats have said they need to see Mr Trump's tax returns to assess whether the IRS is properly auditing presidential returns and to gauge whether new legislation is needed.

In its filing, the committee told the justices that IRS policy "does not address what to do regarding a president who, like former President Trump, owned hundreds of business entities, had inordinately complex returns, used aggressive tax avoidance strategies and allegedly had ongoing audits".

Mr Trump's lawyers have said the committee's real aim is to publicly expose his tax returns and unearth politically damaging information about the Republican.

S District Judge Trevor McFadden, one of Mr Trump's appointees, sided with Congress in December 2021 and threw out the challenge to the committee's request, finding that the committee held broad authority over a former president's tax returns.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in August also ruled against Mr Trump and in October refused a rehearing.

Source | Reuters