WASHINGTON — In an unexpected policy reversal, the Trump administration announced Tuesday it will continue pursuing legal action against several prominent law firms, just 24 hours after dropping the court case entirely.
The sudden change of direction marks the newest chapter in a year-long campaign by the Republican administration to penalize top-tier law firms whose lawyers previously handled cases Trump disagreed with or were connected to investigations targeting him.
Federal courts have consistently sided against the government when the targeted law firms challenged the executive orders. This led the Justice Department to file an appeal. However, on Monday, Justice Department lawyers submitted paperwork to the federal appeals court in Washington withdrawing their appeal, effectively ending enforcement efforts against Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey and WilmerHale.
But Tuesday brought another twist when the Justice Department filed new court documents without explanation, retracting Monday’s withdrawal and stating they would continue the appeal. The department argued that since the appeals court hadn’t yet approved their dismissal motion, the law firms suffered no damage from the position change. Officials noted they informed attorneys representing all four firms about the reversal, and those lawyers expressed opposition.
White House officials directed inquiries about the policy shift to the Justice Department, where representatives refused to provide comment.
Perkins Coie released a statement noting the Justice Department had “offered no explanation to either the parties or the court for its reversal.”
“We remain committed to defending our firm, our people, and our clients,” the firm stated.
Susman Godfrey declared in their response that the firm “will defend itself and the rule of law — without equivocation.”
The series of executive orders, which form part of a wider Trump administration retaliation effort, direct that lawyers at these firms lose their security clearances, have government contracts canceled, and face prohibition from entering federal buildings. The affected firms have characterized these orders as an unconstitutional attack on the justice system.
Several other major law firms have avoided similar orders by negotiating settlements in advance, requiring them to collectively provide hundreds of millions of dollars in pro bono legal services supporting causes favored by the Trump administration.
