Senator Patty Murray wants to see some tax returns.
Murray (D-WA) is once again pressing Andrew Puzder, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, to release three years of his tax returns before his nomination hearing later this week.
After several delays, Puzder is currently scheduled for a Senate committee hearing on Thursday, Feb. 16.
Murray’s office noted that reports surfaced last week that Puzder had not paid taxes for an undocumented worker he had employed for several years. The taxes went unpaid until December — after Puzder was nominated by Trump to lead the Department of Labor.
In a new letter sent earlier this week, Murray is calling for Puzder to release three years of his tax returns to “fully understand” the nominee’s past hiring practices
“Although we expect all nominees to pay appropriate taxes on their employees, these concerns are heightened for the position of Secretary of Labor given this individual’s role in ensuring fair treatment of all workers,” wrote Murray in a letter to the nominee.
Murray previously asked Puzder to release his tax returns in late January, and has also urged all of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees to release their tax returns.
Officials said the requests follow current practices and procedures already in place by the Senate Finance and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees.
Murray’s office has also released a short list of pre-hearing questions that Washington’s senior senator has for Puzder:
• How many household employees have you and your wife employed during the 10-year period leading to your nomination?
• Have you and your spouse withheld appropriate payroll taxes for each individual household employee for the 10-year period leading to your nomination? If yes, please provide the dates when you made those payments.
• Have you filed the required Schedule H for each household employee on your Form 1040?
• Please provide additional details to explain the steps you took to ensure that all other household employees were authorized to work in the United States.
Murray is also asking Puzder to provide details on back payroll taxes that have been due to the state of California and the IRS, along with “documentation to show those back payments were accepted as sufficient,” according to the letter.
