Zoe Tillman

NEW: A federal appeals court has for now shielded billionaire Elon Musk from being questioned under oath about his role last year in shuttering the US Agency for International Development. On the 2-1 order:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Judge Orders US to Stop Calculating IEEPA Tariffs in Refund Push A US judge has ordered the Trump administration halt a key step in the tariff payment process in order to make any refunds simpler after the US Supreme Court struck down the president’s global…

NEW: Big news out of the US trade court, where a judge took the first steps towards refunds for companies that paid Trump's tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court. The judge blocked US officials from including IEEPA tariffs in the normal customs process and ordered recalculations buff.ly/Jdv9aZm

New: The Trump admin confirmed in a court filing it will pay interest on any refunds it ultimately must make after SCOTUS struck the president’s contested tariffs.

This hasn't been a central issue, but underscores the financial stakes. Interest could total $700M/month, per Cato buff.ly/i4ybtNW

NEW: A federal appeals court swiftly rejected the Trump administration’s request to delay next steps in the fight over tariff refunds for importers after the US Supreme Court struck down the president’s signature economic policy
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump Administration Seeks Delay in Tariff Refund Fight The Trump administration is seeking to delay court proceedings over whether it must refund importers billions of dollars in tariffs recently struck down by the US Supreme Court, marking a contentious…

ICYMI: The Trump administration is seeking to delay court proceedings over whether it must refund importers billions of dollars in tariffs the US Supreme Court struck down
buff.ly/BlR1UUK

Waiting for a court order after companies filed another brief this morning: buff.ly/RtprODB

Trump Administration Seeks Delay in Tariff Refund Court Fight The Trump administration is seeking to delay court proceedings over whether it must refund importers billions of dollars in tariffs recently struck down by the US Supreme Court, marking a contentious ...

In tonight's filing, DOJ appeared to acknowledge the likelihood of a tariff refund process, but stopped short of a clear commitment to fully reimbursing businesses. They also argued for delay "to allow the political branches an opportunity to consider options"
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: The Trump administration is seeking to delay court proceedings over whether it must refund importers billions of dollars in tariffs recently struck down by the US Supreme Court, marking a contentious start to the next phase of the legal fight
buff.ly/BlR1UUK

Filing: buff.ly/lYXrrE4

Ray-Ban, FedEx Customers Sue for Refunds on Passed-On Tariffs Thousands of companies are angling for refunds on President Donald Trump’s tariffs, many of which were ruled unconstitutional last week. Now some retail customers are joining the scrum.

On the consumers already filing proposed class actions on behalf of Americans who paid more for goods downstream because of Trump's tariffs, from Mikella Schuettler:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Any tariff fight (or resolution) between importers and the Trump admin is likely to spur spin-off legal fights, like the proposed class action filed yesterday by a New York man seeking a refund for the pricier Ray-Bans he bought www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump Faces 2,000 Tariff Lawsuits Following Supreme Court Loss In the days since the US Supreme Court declared most of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs illegal, more than 100 companies filed new lawsuits, underscoring widespread concerns that the administr...

DOJ is on deadline today in one of the original tariff cases to weigh in on immediate next steps for the legal proceedings. We may not get a big revelation about the admin's stance on refunds, but it may signal its willingness (or not) to have things move quickly
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: With uncertainty looming about whether the Trump administration will oppose paying back billions in tariffs that SCOTUS struck down, companies keep suing.

100+ new cases -- incl. big household names (FedEx, Skechers, Dyson, Dollar General) -- pushing total count above 2,000:
buff.ly/XTl8jfx

Cards Against Humanity to Give Tariff Refunds to Buyers Who ‘Overpaid’ The company that sells the popular party game Cards Against Humanity said it will channel any tariff refunds back to its customers, whom it said “already overpaid for everything.”

And here's Jeannette Neumann with a smart look at the serious issues underlying the attention-grabbing, expletive-laden offer by the company that makes Cards Against Humanity to redirect any tariff refund it gets to customers www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

More tariff action today: Businesses that filed preemptive refund lawsuits while waiting for SCOTUS to rule asked the US trade court to get moving ASAP (the 1,500+ cases filed to date have been on hold): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Filing: assets.bwbx.io/documents/us...

Importers Launch Tariff Refund Process After Supreme Court Win A group of small businesses that successfully challenged President Donald Trump’s global tariffs before the US Supreme Court have asked lower courts to reopen the legal proceedings so that they can…

ICYMI: Companies that took the Trump tariff fight to the US Supreme Court officially kicked off the refund push, asking lower courts to reopen the proceedings. They're not seeking nationwide relief, saying SCOTUS made that unnecessary, but that their case could serve as a template
buff.ly/Yzz3lCF

NEW: The refund push is on.

Small businesses that successfully challenged Trump’s global tariffs before the US Supreme Court formally asked lower courts to resume the legal proceedings so that they can begin the process of seeking repayment from the government:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump’s DOJ Losing Court Fights to Protect DOGE, Musk Secrecy US courts are foiling efforts by the Trump administration to keep under wraps information about the Department of Government Efficiency and the role that Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, played ...

In recent weeks alone, judges:
- forced disclosure of a spreadsheet of DOGE employees + contractors
- rejected privilege assertion to withhold docs
- said Musk can't be shielded from questioning (DOJ is appealing)
- ordered DOJ to probe phone numbers Musk used
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

"...a Big Secret"

NEW: US courts are foiling efforts by the Trump administration to keep information under wraps about DOGE and the role that Elon Musk played during his whirlwind stint with the White House last year
buff.ly/FzWVwyT

Trump Faces Tough Legal Landscape to Oppose Tariff Refunds The Trump administration is likely to face legal obstacles if it argues against refunds for the tariffs struck down by the US Supreme Court — thanks to statements by Justice Department lawyers.

New: As court fights over Trump's tariffs unfolded last year, DOJ urged judges to let the gov't keep collecting the money, based on assurances and concessions about what would happen if it lost. That strategy could undermine any effort by Trump to oppose refunds now.
buff.ly/JUilCGd

Trump Faces Tough Legal Landscape to Oppose Tariff Refunds The Trump administration is likely to face legal obstacles if it argues against refunds for the tariffs struck down by the US Supreme Court — thanks to statements by Justice Department lawyers.

NEW: Trump faces obstacles in court if he wants to oppose refunds after the US Supreme Court struck down his global tariffs -- and that's in part because of statements DOJ made over the past year as it urged judges to let the administration keep collecting levies amid the legal fight buff.ly/JUilCGd

Tariff Ruling Kicks Off Messy Fight Over $170 Billion in Refunds Thousands of companies and importers are set to launch what could be a prolonged battle to try to recoup as much as $170 billion in tariffs they’ve already paid to the US government after the Supreme…

US Supreme Court said ta-ta to Trump's tariffs. The next fight: Refunds.

Or: What do you do about $170 billion?
buff.ly/5NDExCO

New on the docket today: DOJ asks the 4th Circuit to intervene and shield Elon Musk + other Trump admin officials from having to testify in litigation over DOGE's role in dismantling USAID last year buff.ly/RNI0rUB

Previously on the Maryland judge who rebuffed the administration: buff.ly/SXqKQ8S

US judge evergreen moment: "I am quite tired of your discovery disputes"

(in this instance, in a long-running case about Trump admin cuts to humanities grants)

On today's big ruling blocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from trying to penalize Sen. Mark Kelly over a video in which the Arizona Democrat and military veteran told service members they can refuse "illegal orders," by Suzanne Monyak buff.ly/FkTFexl

Opinion: buff.ly/QgdyRgB

New: A federal judge ordered US officials to “facilitate the return” of at least some Venezuelans deported last year as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown -- and chastised the government for effectively telling the court "to pound sand"
buff.ly/g0LFxES

Order: buff.ly/bRxz13J

Trump’s Grip on Billions of Taxpayer Dollars Loosened by Courts US judges have halted the administration’s cuts to funding in more than half of 167 spending fights in the past year

ICYMI: The Trump administration's push to slash billions in US spending and condition the flow of taxpayer dollars on cooperation with anti-DEI policies and its immigration crackdown keeps running into a judicial wall.

A DDD (deep data dive):
bit.ly/4rGbuJa

A blue state/red state divide has emerged in legal fights against the Trump administration -- many (not all) court orders restored funds or access to money only in jurisdictions that sued; recall SCOTUS curbed nationwide injunctions last year bit.ly/4rGbuJa

One example of what that's looked like:

Trump’s Grip on Billions of Taxpayer Dollars Loosened by Courts US judges have halted the administration’s cuts to funding in more than half of 167 spending fights in the past year

"Litigation seems to be the only language that’s understood right now"

How judges have loosened Trump's grip on billions of taxpayer dollars: halting cuts, restoring funds and blocking efforts to tie money to anti-DEI, immigration compliance (gift link) bit.ly/4rGbuJa

The Trump administration prevailed in a few big funding fights before the US Supreme Court last year. But the justices' orders haven't stopped more lawsuits from being filed -- or lower court judges from piling on fresh losses for the government
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Follow The Money: Trump's push to slash billions in US spending and restrict the flow of taxpayer dollars keeps running into a judicial wall.

A deep data dive into the court action -- and perspective from local officials, nonprofits and businesses in the middle:
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

ICYMI: The Trump administration lost a fight to shield Elon Musk from being questioned under oath in a long-running lawsuit over whether he exercised an unconstitutional amount of power in directing the shuttering of USAID
buff.ly/Jpka3CC

Ruling: buff.ly/bMKPFK1