Judge Rules Trump's Defense of IRS-ICE Agreement Is 'Weak Sauce'

A federal court ruled Tuesday that the IRS broke the law when it shared taxpayer data with the Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia called out the Trump administration for violating federal law over the data sharing, writing in its ruling that "The IRS is now on notice twice over regarding the inadequacies of its summer 2025 disclosures. "The government and its personnel face steep civil and criminal consequences for willful disclosure of information in violation of section 6103," the ruling states, referring to the law in question. The IRS argued that a preliminary injunction against sharing taxpayer information is "highly unusual and harmful" because it requires the IRS to provide the district court with "prior notice of criminal investigatory activity," according to court documents. The ruling panel called this argument "weak sauce," as a lower court is allowing the IRS to file notifications "'under seal,' thereby shielding any criminal investigative activity from disclosure." It's quite a rebuke for administration officials, and is another example of the White House rushing to find targets for its mass deportation machine without any regard for the law. The information sharing in question targeted thousands of taxpayers, ensnaring many people who didn't commit any crimes. Undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes every year. Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency also appears to have been involved in the information-sharing effort, and another court ruled last month that DOGE has to disclose its internal communications related to the questionably legal deal between DHS and the IRS. The Trump administration is trying to stall disclosing to the public how private tax information was shared with immigration agents, who was involved, and whether it will comply with the law going forward.