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Judge appears skeptical of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against IRS and Treasury

By Aleena Fayaz
5 hr ago


US President Donald Trump speaks during a healthcare affordability event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

A federal judge on Friday questioned the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury Department over the leak of his tax returns, ordering a hearing to determine whether the president can sue federal agencies that he oversees.

Florida District Judge Kathleen M. Williams said it is unclear whether Trump and the agencies are “sufficiently adverse to each other” and ordered both sides to provide more information on the relationship. ... “Although President Trump avers that he is bringing this lawsuit in his personal capacity, he is the sitting president and his named adversaries are entities whose decisions are subject to his direction,” Williams, an Obama appointee, said in the order.

The judge noted the ways that Trump has sought to expand presidential power, pointing to an executive order barring executive branch employees from advancing legal interpretations that contradict the president’s “opinion on a matter of a law.”

“One such employee of the executive branch, the Attorney General, has a statutory obligation to defend the IRS when it is hailed into court, but then is ostensibly required by executive mandate to adhere to the President’s opinion on a matter of law in such a case,” Williams wrote. “This raises questions over whether the Parties here are truly antagonistic to each other.”

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