Article on DOJ Tax Obituary (4/15/26)

1. DOJ Tax Alumni may be interested in this offering: Karen Kelly, An Obituary for DOJ’s Tax Division (Justice Connection 4/15/26), here.

While considering the Tax Division and its role and the reasons the Trump administration may want to diminish its role (and disserve the country), readers might want to consider the following from DOJ Tax’s history, particularly the role of Robert H. Jackson, former AAG Tax, Solicitor General, Attorney General, Supreme Court Justice, and Nuremburg War Crimes Prosecutor:

• Congratulations to the U.S. on Excellence Joining the U.S. Department of Justice (1936) (Jackson List 4/8/62), here.
• “The Federal Prosecutor,” in 1940, and in Hope Even Today (The Jackson List 4/1/26), here.

 

Karen Kelly Article on Federal Tax Prosecutions Before and After Department of Justice Tax Division Is Eliminated (10/19/25)

I point DOJ Tax Alumni to Karen Kelly and Caroline Rule’s article titled Federal Tax Prosecutions Before and After Department of Justice Tax Division Is Eliminated (White Collar Crime Litigation 9/22/25), here. Kelly was formerly a leader in the Tax Division before its demise at the behest of the Trump Administration. Kelly is now with Kostelanetz where Caroline Rule is a partner. Caroline Rule is a major force in tax crimes.

I have been trying to determine how the DOJ Tax functions would be folded into the DOJ Civil and Criminal Divisions, respectively. The article says:

According to the reorganization, the Civil Tax Division attorneys and the Criminal Tax Division attorneys will be relocated from the Tax Division into their respective components  at the DOJ: the DOJ Civil Division and the DOJ Criminal Division. There will then be a separate tax section within each division. Within the Civil Division, the tax attorneys will be renamed the Tax Litigation Section, which will include the six geographical Civil Trial Sections, 1 the Court of Federal Claims unit, the Office of Review, and the Appellate unit. On the criminal tax side, the attorneys will be moved into the Tax Section of the Criminal Division, which will include the three geographical regions and the Criminal Appeal unit. At least initially, the criminal attorneys will continue to be organized by geographic regions within the Tax Section. Presently, the regions are Northern Criminal Enforcement Section, Southern Criminal Enforcement Section, and Western Criminal Enforcement Section.

I infer that the pyramid structures in both DOJ Tax Civil and Criminal will be moved into the DOJ Civil and Criminal Sections, respectively. Presumably, some of the top level DOJ Tax Civil and Criminal Sections functions will be thinned out or eliminated, but some type of pyramid structure will remain. The basic work functions to line level attorneys will remain the same.

I await an org chart from the DOJ Civil and Criminal Divisions to get a better fix on this.

Update on Demise of Tax Division (9/28/25)

The Tax Division is no more (except as its residue now resides in the DOJ Civil and Criminal Sections). See Francesca Ugolini, A Eulogy for the Tax Division, (Tax Notes 9/23/25), here; and Nathan Richman, Dismantling of Justice Department’s Tax Division Has Resumed (Tax Notes 9/26.25), here.

1. The main Tax Division web site has been taken down and now appears as an archive page here.

2. It is unclear how the organizational structures of the Civil and Criminal Divisions will change with the incorporation of the Tax Division functions. As of this posting, the web pages for the Civil and Criminal Divisions do not indicate anything about the reorganization.

3. I suspect that the line attorneys doing the litigation work will continue as before with no substantial disruption of their work.

4. There will have to be conforming changes to the Justice Manual and the Criminal Tax Manual. Similarly, there will have to be changes to the IRS’s IRM and other publications referring to the Tax Division. I presume that conforming changes will take some time and may occur piecemeal.

5. The Wikipedia Page, here, says it was last edited on August 17, 2025, but does not mention the reorganization and the information on the page is substantially out of date (e.g., the Division Executive is said to be David A. Hubbert, Acting Assistant Attorney General, who left that role in January 2025). See Deputy AAG Tax Hubbert Removed and Reassigned to Sanctuary City Program (Whatever That Is) (DOJ Tax Division Alumni Blog 2/7/25; 2/11/25), here.

Trump Reorganization Possibilities – Shrinking the Tax Division (3/27/25)

WAPO has an article today that mentions, albeit cryptically, a shrinkage of the Tax Division by farming responsibilities to the U.S. Attorneys Offices. Devlin Barrett and Glenn Thrush, Justice Dept. Considers Merging Drug and Gun Agencies in Broader Reorganization (WAPO 3/28/25), here. The cryptic mention is:

The proposal also calls for reassigning tax division lawyers to U.S. attorney’s offices around the country.

Please feel free to comment below as to your views on this proposal (although it may be too cryptic to assess). Also, DOJ Tax Alumni can email me any comments. Please be assured that your emails to me will be confidential and not shared with anyone without your express permission.

I will say for myself that I am concerned about the Trump administration apparent downsizing of tax administration (both IRS and DOJ Tax) will lead to significantly less compliance and impairment of the tax system. If the message is that those willing to play fast and loose with their tax obligations can now have less compliance with impunity, then the overall system will be the loser. Specifically, the cost of Government will be disproportionately borne by those citizens who voluntarily comply (e.g., ordinary wage earners forced to comply through withholding or are just honest in reporting tax liability), with those willing to cheat having a free ride with less fear of getting caught and required to pay up (with penalties and interest). The country loses. Every tax honest citizen loses.

I am reminded of Oliver Wendell Holmes' famous quote that taxes are what we pay for a civilized society. When we fail to pay the taxes we owe, we cheat the system; we cheat the country, just as any traitor would. And policing compliance is what we owe our country and all those who voluntarily comply. A robust compliance system in the IRS and DOJ Tax is good for the country. Those (the Trump Administration) who seek to debilitate the compliance system are disserving the country.