A federal appeals court judge sparked controversy after using the slang phrase "weak sauce" to dismiss the IRS's argument in a ruling over an ICE data-sharing case, prompting accusations from conservative commentators that the language was unprofessional and undermined judicial decorum. The comment came from D.C. Circuit Judge Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, as part of a ruling by a three-judge panel—also including Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins, both Obama appointees—that upheld a block on the IRS sharing taxpayer data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Critics argued the phrasing would look "sophomoric" when cited in future legal cases, with some also accusing the panel of political bias against the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts.

The underlying case concerns whether the IRS broke federal tax-confidentiality law by handing over tens of thousands of taxpayer addresses to ICE, after the agency sought information on more than a million suspected illegal immigrants. The court found ICE's requests were often "incomplete or insufficiently populated" yet the IRS supplied the data anyway, and it upheld a lower court's order preventing the IRS from continuing this practice under its current process. The plaintiffs, including the Center for Taxpayer Rights, Main Street Alliance and two labour unions, had argued the IRS failed to properly vet ICE's requests. The ruling arrives amid the Trump administration's push to expand immigration enforcement, detention and deportations.