Trump’s DOJ Eliminates the Tax Division—An Editorial Comment (6/26/25/6/27/25)

Caveat: This is Jack Townsend’s extended editorial comment on the elimination of DOJ Tax Division. This is an opinion piece. Those who do not care about my opinion might want to focus their attention elsewhere.

I previously wrote on the DOJ budget request that included eliminating the Tax Division. DOJ 2026 Budget Reflects Reorganization Plan to Eliminate Tax Division and Spread Its Functions to Other Components (CIV and CRIM) (DOJ Tax Division Alumni Blog 6/17/25), here.

Trump and his minions (collectively Trump) want to (i) benefit real or perceived friends, (ii) punish real or perceived enemies, and (iii) punish anyone or group or agency that deters him from doing (i) or (ii). Trump’s list of friends (real or perceived) and enemies (real or perceived) can change often and depends upon his whim or grievances of the moment. (For the balance of his posting, I will just refer to friends or enemies, but the reference includes real or perceived.) But I think the throughline is that he really hates his enemies. And he has made clear that he intends to use DOJ to punish his enemies.

The Tax Division is the least political of DOJ Components. (I think even less political than the Solicitor General’s office, particularly after the Bob Jones case where the SG’s office through Larry Wallace, a career attorney in the SG’s office, showed true independence. See Larry Wallace of SG's Office and Footnote Fame Dies (DOJ Tax Division Alumni Blog 2/24/20), here)

Trump could have appointed an Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division and the next layer of Deputies who likely would bend the knee to Trump. (I’ll call this group Trump tax acolytes.) But Trump tax acolytes would have had some difficulty because, in my experience, they would face resistance in the Tax Division with a tradition of nonpartisanship and overall fairness in tax enforcement. In other words, the likelihood of resistance to Trump acolytes serving Trump (see items (i) and (ii) above) is much greater if the Tax Division remained a separate DOJ Component. And that same likelihood of resistance in the Tax Division as a separate Component would be true whoever holds the political reins of power--Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative, or even a special category for Trump (for which there is a name but not appropriate for publication here; let’s just say it is not a term of endearment.)

DOJ 2026 Budget Reflects Reorganization Plan to Eliminate Tax Division and Spread Its Functions to Other Components (CIV and CRIM) (6/17/25)

The DOJ Fiscal Year 2026 Budget and Performance Summary, dated 6/13/25, here, reflects a reorganization eliminating the Tax Division and moving its functions to the Civil (Tax Branch) and Criminal Divisions. Much of the document is budget-speak that some policy-wonks may want to dig into, but for readers of this blog, the bottom line elimination of the Tax Division and transfer of its functions is the key point. Excerpts relevant to that key point are:

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• Eliminations.

    • Tax Division (TAX). TAX will be eliminated as a standalone component, with its civil enforcement work transferred to CIV and its criminal enforcement work being transferred to CRM. The FY 2025 operating plan allocated TAX’s remaining resources directly to the budgets for CIV and CRM; this is  also reflected in the FY 2026 request. The reorganization provides more oversight to the tax  enforcement function and more effectively distributes resources.

JAT Note: I infer that the "more oversight" may be the key here, because Trump and his minions have previously expressed unhappiness with the Tax Division, the least political DOJ Component, because it took action that Trump and his minions did not like and want more political control over the tax litigation. Of course, more political control of DOJ and its Components which Trump has ramped up may come back to haunt them later when a new administration comes in.

[*65: *77 of pdf]

[*69: *81 of pdf]

General Legal Activities
Criminal Division (CRM)

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[*70: *82 of pdf]

The Department of Justice has started a reorganization to improve its effectiveness in executing its mission. Included in this reorganization will be the integration of three new groups into the Criminal Division: the criminal portfolios of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit of the Civil Rights Division, and the criminal portfolios of the Tax Division.

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