Justice Dept. Struggles to Respond to Trump's Suit Against I.R.S.
Source: New York Times
March 31, 2026 Updated 8:31 p.m. ET
The Justice Department is struggling to decide how to respond to President Trump’s lawsuit demanding at least $10 billion from the I.R.S., as the department’s lawyers try to resolve by a mid-April deadline the profound ethical questions the case raises, according to two people familiar with the dynamic.
In late January, Mr. Trump took the extraordinary step of suing a federal agency that he oversees, accusing the I.R.S. of not doing enough to prevent the leak of his tax returns to The New York Times in 2020. The suit immediately elicited questions about whether and how Trump administration officials would defend against a lawsuit filed by the head of the executive branch. The government has not yet responded to the case.
Inside the Justice Department and the White House, senior officials are in the middle of a messy and complicated debate over their next steps, according to the people familiar with the deliberations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. While former Justice Department officials see clear flaws in the president’s case, some Trump administration officials worry that assigning a lawyer to contest it would pose an unworkable conflict, given that such a person ultimately works for the president, according to the two people.
Defending the case could also contradict a White House executive order that binds all government lawyers to the president’s interpretation of the law. Another option under consideration is to try to delay the case, either by requesting more time to respond to the suit or by asking the judge to put it on hold until after Mr. Trump leaves office in 2029. Mr. Trump’s lawyers served the government with the suit on Feb. 18, giving the Justice Department 60 days to respond.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/us/politics/trump-irs-lawsuit-doj.html
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