As a 2020 presidential candidate, Joe Biden said he would enact legislation to require every candidate for federal office to disclose tax returns dating back 10 years. This followed President-elect Donald Trump's refusal to release his tax returns as every other presidential candidate going back to the 1970s had.

Four years later, there is no law.

The voting and elections bill known as H.R. 1 — which passed the House in March 2021 with only Democratic votes — addressed part of this promise, saying that all presidential and vice presidential candidates must submit 10 years' worth of tax returns to the Federal Election Commission. (The bill did not make the same requirement for House and Senate candidates.)

When the bill moved to the Senate, members removed some provisions, including the one on tax return disclosure for candidates. (H.R. 1 failed in a 50-50 Senate vote in June 2021, falling 10 votes short of the 60 required to advance to a final vote.) 

On Dec. 9, 2021, the House passed the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which, among other things, required presidential and vice presidential candidates to disclose 10 years of tax returns. However, the bill did not advance in the Senate.

The House's flip to Republican control in the 2022 election further hindered legislation to require presidential candidates to disclose tax returns, and a reintroduced version of the Protecting Our Democracy Act stalled in the House during Biden's final two years in office.

We rate this Promise Broken.