U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia. Sept. 17, 2014. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/NLJ

A federal judge in Washington will weigh Tuesday whether President Donald Trump's longtime accountant must turn over the president's financial records to Congress.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta is set to hear arguments Tuesday morning in the president's legal bid to block accounting firm Mazars USA LLP from complying with a congressional subpoena that demands eight years of Trump's financial records.

Mehta's ruling will come in the middle of an increasingly tense standoff between the executive and legislative branches, as the Trump administration has refused to comply with a spate of oversight demands by the Democratic majority in the U.S. House.

Mehta said last week he would fast-track a final decision in the case, speeding up a ruling on the merits earlier than expected. Mehta, an Obama appointee, said in his order that the case was fully briefed and he did not see a need to delay a ruling on the merits.

Trump's lawyers said in a Monday filing they opposed the sped-up timeline. “While Plaintiffs understand the Court's desire to decide this case efficiently, resolving it in this way—and on this schedule—will severely prejudice Plaintiffs,” Consovoy McCarthy Park partner William Consovoy wrote. “Put simply, proceeding in this fashion will deny Plaintiffs a full and fair opportunity to assemble a record and brief the merits of their constitutional claim.“

Mehta in a minute order on Monday said Tuesday's hearing would proceed. The order said he “will take up” Trump legal team's opposition during the hearing.

The question at the center of Tuesday's hearing is whether the subpoena is a valid exercise of Congress' legislative powers. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, who chairs the House Oversight committee, issued the subpoena last month as the panel looks into whether Trump lied about the value of his assets and liabilities in past financial statements.

Michael Cohen, the president's former personal attorney, had provided the committee three years' worth of Trump's financial statements, as he testified to Congress that the president inflated his wealth while pursuing a possible bank loan to purchase the Buffalo Bills.

Trump's personal attorneys immediately filed suit to block enforcement of Cummings' subpoena. Trump is represented by Consovoy McCarthy Park attorneys William Consovoy and Patrick Strawbridge, as well as Michael Best & Friedrich partner Stefan Passantino.

In briefs, Trump's lawyers contend the subpoena is an illegitimate use of Congress' powers, painting Democratic oversight as a broader effort to harass the president.

“At best, the Oversight Committee seeks these documents so it can conduct law-enforcement activities that the Supreme Court has held are reserved to the other branches. More likely, though, the Committee wants to collect and 'expose' the President's financial documents 'for the sake of exposure,” Trump's lawyers wrote in a brief earlier this month. “That purpose is likewise illegitimate and thus provides no constitutional footing for the subpoena.”

Mazars USA LLP, which is represented by attorneys at Blank Rome, said in a filing it is not taking a position on the legal issues in the case. The accounting firm is the defendant in the suit.