President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leaking of his tax returns ran into turbulence Friday as a judge ordered a hearing on whether the Constitution allows the president to sue the federal government he oversees.
U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams has asked Trump’s private attorneys and Justice Department lawyers representing the IRS to address whether his control over the government’s actions in the case means it’s the kind of dispute federal courts cannot consider.
“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 wrote in a four-page order. “It is unclear to this Court whether the Parties are sufficiently adverse to each other so as to satisfy [the Constitution’s] case or controversy requirement.”
Williams, a Miami-based appointee of former President Barack Obama, noted that Trump has personally acknowledged the novelty of the situation. Shortly after filing the suit in January, he agreed with a reporter that it was unusual to be on both sides of a lawsuit.
“It’s very interesting,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. ”We're thinking about doing something for charity, where I'll give money to charity.”
Last year, speaking about a separate legal claim he filed with the Justice Department, Trump was even more blunt about the potential conflict. “It sort of looks bad, ‘I'm suing myself,’ right?” he said about that demand, which seeks $230 million over the court-approved FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago and various federal investigations into him.
Williams also pointed to Trump’s attempts to consolidate his power over the executive branch through executive orders. Several advance a legal theory known as the unitary executive under which the president wields full control over the actions of most, or perhaps all, executive branch employees.
The judge noted that one such order Trump signed last year, essentially forbids government employees acting in their official capacity from advancing legal positions at odds with legal positions staked out by the president.
“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 here over whether the Parties here are truly antagonistic to each other.”
An additional complication is that Trump is not the only plaintiff in the case: his sons Eric and Donald Jr. and a company that controls much of the family business empire also joined the suit.
Williams ordered both sides to submit briefs on the issue by May 20, and she set a hearing on the matter for May 27.
An IRS contractor, Charles Littlejohn, was sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to giving journalists copies of Trump’s returns and those of other wealthy individuals.
Asked about the judge’s order, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team sent a statement decrying the leak but not directly addressing the judge’s concerns.
“The IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically-motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization,” the statement said. “President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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