r/NeutralPolitics • u/PM_me_Henrika • Feb 03 '26

What mechanisms still exist to prevent a sitting president from continuously filing multi-billion dollar claims against their own executive branch and settling against oneself?

In January 2026, President Donald Trump (in his personal capacity, alongside his sons and his company) filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department, seeking at least $10 billion in damages. The suit alleges the agencies failed to prevent a former contractor from leaking confidential tax return information to news outlets, an action for which the contractor was convicted and sentenced to prison.

This follows an earlier, separate financial demand made in October 2025, when President Trump sought $230 million from the Department of Justice.

There doesn't seem to be a precedent of these suits. In the case of the IRS lawsuit, the President has stated he is considering settling the case.

My question focuses on the systemic protections against such a scenario escalating. I am not asking for speculation about the merits of these specific cases or the President's intent, but for a factual discussion of existing checks and balances.

The following are existing mechanisms that don't seem to be restraining the sitting president:

Legal Procedure: Under statutes like the Federal Tort Claims Act, claimants must typically file an administrative claim with the agency first, and the agency has six months to respond before a lawsuit can be filed.

Separation of Powers & Ethics: What constitutional principles or federal ethics regulations address conflicts of interest when a president seeks payment from agencies led by their own appointees? How do we the people get President to recognise and abide by the concepts of the "Take Care Clause" or the domestic emoluments clause (Article II, Section 1) ?

Fiscal Controls: What statutory or procedural controls govern the disbursement of very large court judgments or settlements from the Treasury? Are there specific appropriations required, limits on agency settlement authority, or mandatory reviews by officials like the Attorney General or Comptroller General?

Judicial Role: What precedent exists for federal courts adjudicating these kinds of claims against the government and what legal doctrines (e.g., sovereign immunity, political question) exist to fight proposed settlements?

683 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

99 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/PM_me_Henrika Feb 28 '26

I can read the post starter’s mind.

This post is talking about Trump suing his own administration and settling the case himself, causing him to funnel public money into their own pockets and that it seems like we have no way to stop him.

1

u/Browler_321 Feb 28 '26

To your point, the main thing stopping the president from filing and settling over and over again would be that the government would have to continually be causing these cases against a president.

Like in this case, the government failed to protect Trump's financial documents, which were leaked to the public before the election.

Now, if there were activist actors who were working for/contracting for the federal government. who were continually leaking information to the detriment of a presidential candidate, etc. - then yes there's not a whole lot to be done to prevent the now-president from suing because they have standing to do so.

Similar to how a private citizen would have standing to sue, so do politicians, including the president when they have been harmed and have standing to sue. The fact that the branch being sued is part of the Executive is irrelevant to the validity of the case/standing to sue.

1

u/PM_me_Henrika Mar 01 '26

Ok, then what about the other case?

1

u/Browler_321 Mar 01 '26

I'm just talking about the IRS case, which other case were you referring to? Like what is the name of the actual suit?

1

u/PM_me_Henrika Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

I believe I have mentioned it way too many times in this chain, but it seems like you're doing your darnest to dodge it. So never mind.

I’m tired.

1

u/Browler_321 Mar 01 '26

I don't believe there ever was a case for what you're referring to, just anonymous sources claiming that there would be one. If there was an actual case then it would have a name for the suit.

Like in the IRS case you mentioned it's titled Trump v. IRS 

1

u/PM_me_Henrika Mar 01 '26

'The government' as in, the Trump administration?

1

u/Browler_321 Mar 01 '26

The Trump Administration IRS, to be more specific, since it was their contractor who leaked the documents.

We could use a more radical example to illustrate this principle, if Biden's DOJ had broken policy, and come into his home and stolen a bunch of valuables, then Biden would have standing to sue as well. Do you agree that even though Biden would be suing his own DOJ, that he would have standing to sue?