Kathleen M. Williams Questions Constitutionality of Trump’s $10 Billion IRS and Treasury Lawsuit

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.

“Judge orders Trump, DOJ to justify why president's $10B IRS lawsuit should proceed Trump sued the IRS over the public disclosure of his tax information in 2019”

ABC News

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.

ABC News

Williams, an Obama appointee, wrote that “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.”

She also pointed to an executive order barring executive branch employees from advancing legal interpretations that contradict the president’s “opinion on a matter of a law,” and she highlighted the Attorney General’s role in defending the IRS while being required to adhere to the president’s view.

“This raises questions over whether the Parties here are truly antagonistic to each other,” Williams wrote in the order.

CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig said Williams is calling out the “obvious irregularity of having essentially the same person in interest” on both sides of the lawsuit.

Honig added, “However, what makes this so bizarre and potentially inappropriate is Trump is essentially suing the executive branch that he now leads and so the conflicts of interest here jump off the page.”

The judge’s skepticism arrived as Trump’s lawyers were engaged in talks with the IRS and Treasury to resolve the lawsuit, with the president’s attorneys requesting a 90-day extension while those discussions continued.

CNN reported that if the talks resolved with any monetary settlement, it would be Trump’s own administration paying him and his family.

Bloomberg Línea

The order also referenced Trump’s comments acknowledging “the unique dynamic of this litigation,” including a January trip aboard Air Force One where he told reporters that “it’s very interesting” to be on both sides of a lawsuit.

Trump told reporters at the time that he was thinking of donating money he might win from lawsuits against the government to charity, saying, “We could make it a substantial amount,” and “nobody would care because it’s going to go to numerous very good charities.”

ABC News similarly described Williams as denying a request to delay the case amid possible settlement talks, and it said she ordered Trump and the Department of Justice to submit briefs and set a hearing for next month.

Politico reported that Williams ordered both sides to submit briefs on the issue by May 20 and set a hearing for May 27.

The Eagle-Tribune added that Williams ordered the Justice Department, which represents the agencies, to explain in writing by May 20 how she can oversee the case when the Constitution requires legitimate adversarial disputes for courts to have jurisdiction.

In a separate development, CNN said the IRS deferred a request for comment to the Justice Department, which it said is handling this matter.

Trump and his legal team filed the lawsuit in January, alleging that the government failed to protect his and the Trump Organization’s confidential tax information, which was leaked to the press by Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor.

“(Automated translation by Reuters using machine learning and generative AI; please refer to the following warning: https://bit”

Boursorama

CNN said Littlejohn worked as a government contractor at Booz Allen Hamilton and illegally obtained and disclosed Trump’s tax returns to publications like the New York Times and ProPublica, and it said the suit alleged that the leak occurred through those disclosures.

In 2024, CNN reported, Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison for disclosing thousands of tax returns without authorization, from Trump and other wealthy individuals.

ABC News described the same core allegations, saying the government contractor pleaded guilty in 2023 to stealing the tax information of Donald Trump and other wealthy Americans and leaking it to media outlets in 2019 and 2020.

Politico added that Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. and a company that controls much of the family business empire joined the suit, and it said Williams ordered both sides to submit briefs and set a hearing.

Bloomberg Línea reported that the lawsuit was filed Thursday in a federal court in Miami by Trump, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and the Trump Organization, which manages the president’s real estate properties, and it said the suit sought at least $10 billion.

SWI swissinfo.ch stated that Trump filed the suit in his personal capacity, not as president, together with Eric and Donald Jr. and The Trump Organization, and it said the complaint states that the IRS and the Treasury Department “had a duty to safeguard and protect the confidential tax returns of the plaintiffs.”

Across the coverage, the named defendant agencies were the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department, and the alleged leak source was Charles Littlejohn.

The reporting diverged in how it framed the judge’s concerns and the broader context of Trump’s legal strategy, even while describing the same central dispute over the IRS and Treasury.

CNN emphasized the constitutional question of whether the parties are “sufficiently adverse,” quoting Williams’ reasoning that Trump is the sitting president and that his named adversaries are entities whose decisions are subject to his direction.

CNN

ABC News similarly highlighted the “sufficiently adverse” issue, but it added that Williams was raising concerns she could throw out the case because Trump oversees the government entities he is suing, and it quoted Williams on the need for a dispute between parties in an adversary proceeding.

Politico framed the same order as “trouble” for the lawsuit, and it described Williams’ focus on whether Trump’s control over the government’s actions means it’s the kind of dispute federal courts cannot consider, while also quoting Trump’s earlier remark that “It sort of looks bad, ‘I’m suing myself,’ right?”

The Eagle-Tribune focused on the procedural requirement, saying Williams ordered the Justice Department to explain in writing by May 20 how she can oversee the case under the Constitution’s requirement for legitimate adversarial disputes.

Meanwhile, CNews and La Presse described the lawsuit’s filing and damages request in more straightforward terms, with CNews saying Trump sought $10 billion and La Presse stating he sought $10 billion in damages for failing to block the leak of his tax returns.

L’Echo and CNN en Español also described the case as Trump suing the IRS over the leak of his tax data, with CNN en Español quoting the legal team’s statement that the IRS “improperly allowed a politically motivated, rogue employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family and the Trump Organization.”

Across these outlets, the same judge and the same $10 billion figure appear, but the emphasis shifts between constitutional adverseness, procedural deadlines, and the political framing of the alleged leak.

The judge’s order sets up a direct test of whether the lawsuit can proceed, with Williams requiring briefs and a hearing and raising the possibility that the case could be dismissed if the adversarial relationship requirement is not met.

“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”

CNN

ABC News said Williams set a hearing for next month and ordered Trump’s lawyers and the Department of Justice to submit briefs about why the case should proceed, while also noting that the required adverse relationship between the parties may not exist.

CNN en Español

Politico reported that Williams ordered both sides to submit briefs by May 20 and set a hearing for May 27, and it described the constitutional issue as whether Trump’s control over the government’s actions means it’s the kind of dispute federal courts cannot consider.

The Eagle-Tribune said Williams ordered the Justice Department to explain in writing by May 20 how she can oversee the case under the Constitution’s requirement for legitimate adversarial disputes for courts to have jurisdiction.

In parallel, Trump’s legal team issued a statement decrying the leak but not directly addressing the judge’s concerns, saying, “The IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically-motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization,” and adding, “President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”

CNN reported that Trump’s lawyers were engaged in talks with the IRS and Treasury to resolve the lawsuit, with a 90-day extension requested, and it said any monetary settlement would come from Trump’s own administration paying him and his family.

The stakes described in the complaint and coverage include reputational and financial harm, with SWI swissinfo.ch quoting the complaint’s description that the defendants “had caused the plaintiffs reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, tarnished their business reputation, presented them in a false light, and have negatively affected the public image of President Trump and others.”

Bloomberg Línea warned that the lawsuit “could potentially expose American taxpayers to the liability of a massive payout,” tying the legal fight to broader public consequences.