Reports: Mulvaney failed to pay employee taxes

U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney has reported to the committee vetting him to be Donald Trump’s White House budget director that he failed to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a household employee.

“I have come to learn during the confirmation review process that I failed to pay FICA and federal and state unemployment taxes on a household employee for the years 2000-2004,” the Indian Land Republican said on a questionnaire to the Senate Budget Committee, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Separately, Mulvaney also reported owing between $2.1 million and $10.3 million to creditors on public financial disclosures that he provided as part of his confirmation process. Mulvaney reported he and his wife have between $3.2 million and $7.3 million in assets, tied mostly to financial investments and real estate.

Nominees report their assets and liabilities in ranges, not in specific amounts.

The financial liabilities Mulvaney reported include a mortgage in foreclosure of between $1 million and $5 million and a mortgage loan of between $1 million and $5 million that is due next year.

The New York Times reported Mulvaney, who makes $174,000 a year as a congressman, said he has paid the more than $15,000 in taxes due and is awaiting a state tax bill, and interest and penalties. His confirmation hearing for the OMB post — which pays the current director $104,524 — is Tuesday.

However, similar tax compliance issues have derailed Cabinet nominees in the past.

In 2009, former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle was forced to withdraw his nomination to President Barack Obama’s Cabinet after it was revealed he had paid roughly $140,000 in back taxes.

At the time, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, now is the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said he would not support Daschle’s nomination, calling his tax issue “a little too much to swallow.”

Two potential attorneys general for Bill Clinton – Zoe E. Baird and Kimba Woods – also saw their nominations pulled for nonpayment of “nanny taxes.”

A former S.C. state representative and state senator, Mulvaney won the 5th District seat in the U.S. House in 2010, riding a wave of Tea Party fervor.

Since then, he has been one of the House’s most vocal advocates of fiscal restraint, touring his district giving wonkish overviews about the dangers of federal spending and borrowing.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Reports: Mulvaney failed to pay employee taxes."