WASHINGTON (AP) — The labor union representing Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service workers asked a judge Thursday to block a sweeping tax audit immunity agreement for President Donald Trump, arguing it would force career employees to choose between following a political order and abiding by the law. The group joined a lawsuit filed in May that sought to block the proposed $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which the Trump administration later scrapped after bipartisan pushback. The updated lawsuit, filed by legal advocacy group Democracy Forward, now also targets the audit immunity deal conferred on the president, his sons and the Trump Organization, which remains in place. The updated lawsuit says Trump and his family are “obligated to pay taxes owed, just like every other taxpayer.” But under the immunity order, IRS employees will be forced to drop ongoing audits of the president and his businesses, giving Trump “a lucrative and unconstitutional emolument,” the lawsuit says.
“The integrity of our tax system depends on one fundamental principle: every taxpayer is subject to the same laws and the same standards,” Doreen Greenwald, the national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in a statement. “When political actors direct employees to treat certain taxpayers differently, it undermines public confidence in our tax system and places dedicated civil servants in an impossible position.”The lawsuit asks the court to bar the Trump administration from implementing or enforcing the immunity deal, which officials have said applies only to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings. The case alleges the agreement violates a law that bars the president from interfering with tax audits.
