Court allows DOJ to proceed with appeal over law firm executive orders
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
A federal appeals court on Monday handed the Trump administration a procedural victory in its fight to revive executive orders targeting several major law firms, allowing the government to continue its appeal of lower court rulings that struck down the measures.
In a brief order, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted the Justice Department’s request to withdraw an earlier motion that would have voluntarily dismissed the case, clearing the way for the administration to pursue its challenge to the rulings blocking the orders after a public flip-flop on whether it wanted the legal battle to continue.
A banner with a portrait of President Donald Trump is hung from the Department of Justice, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The short appeals court order came in a consolidated appeal involving lawsuits brought by several prominent firms, including Perkins Coie, against the DOJ and other federal officials.
“Upon consideration of appellants’ motion to withdraw their motion to voluntarily dismiss these appeals, it is ordered that the motion to withdraw be granted,” the court wrote in the one-page order directing the clerk to update the docket. The decision allows the Trump administration to continue the case unabated.
The orders applied to Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, and Susman Godfrey and seek to restrict the firms’ access to federal buildings and officials, suspend security clearances held by their attorneys, and require government contractors to disclose whether they had hired the firms.
However, the administration’s legal strategy has shifted several times in recent weeks, creating a web of confusion and uncertainty about the fate of the law firms’ executive order legal challenge.
It all started on March 2, when DOJ lawyers told the D.C. Circuit that they planned to voluntarily dismiss the appeals of lower court decisions invalidating the executive orders. But within 24 hours, the department reversed course, asking the court to withdraw that dismissal request so the appeals could proceed.
In a March 6 filing that was already due just days after the government’s back-and-forth reversal, DOJ lawyers filed a 369-page joint appendix to the appeals court explaining why it should overturn the lower court that sided against the executive order, while defending the scope of the president’s Article II authority.
“Courts cannot tell the President what to say. Courts …
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
A federal appeals court on Monday handed the Trump administration a procedural victory in its fight to revive executive orders targeting several major law firms, allowing the government to continue its appeal of lower court rulings that struck down the measures.
In a brief order, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted the Justice Department’s request to withdraw an earlier motion that would have voluntarily dismissed the case, clearing the way for the administration to pursue its challenge to the rulings blocking the orders after a public flip-flop on whether it wanted the legal battle to continue.
A banner with a portrait of President Donald Trump is hung from the Department of Justice, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The short appeals court order came in a consolidated appeal involving lawsuits brought by several prominent firms, including Perkins Coie, against the DOJ and other federal officials.
“Upon consideration of appellants’ motion to withdraw their motion to voluntarily dismiss these appeals, it is ordered that the motion to withdraw be granted,” the court wrote in the one-page order directing the clerk to update the docket. The decision allows the Trump administration to continue the case unabated.
The orders applied to Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, and Susman Godfrey and seek to restrict the firms’ access to federal buildings and officials, suspend security clearances held by their attorneys, and require government contractors to disclose whether they had hired the firms.
However, the administration’s legal strategy has shifted several times in recent weeks, creating a web of confusion and uncertainty about the fate of the law firms’ executive order legal challenge.
It all started on March 2, when DOJ lawyers told the D.C. Circuit that they planned to voluntarily dismiss the appeals of lower court decisions invalidating the executive orders. But within 24 hours, the department reversed course, asking the court to withdraw that dismissal request so the appeals could proceed.
In a March 6 filing that was already due just days after the government’s back-and-forth reversal, DOJ lawyers filed a 369-page joint appendix to the appeals court explaining why it should overturn the lower court that sided against the executive order, while defending the scope of the president’s Article II authority.
“Courts cannot tell the President what to say. Courts …
Court allows DOJ to proceed with appeal over law firm executive orders
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
A federal appeals court on Monday handed the Trump administration a procedural victory in its fight to revive executive orders targeting several major law firms, allowing the government to continue its appeal of lower court rulings that struck down the measures.
In a brief order, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted the Justice Department’s request to withdraw an earlier motion that would have voluntarily dismissed the case, clearing the way for the administration to pursue its challenge to the rulings blocking the orders after a public flip-flop on whether it wanted the legal battle to continue.
A banner with a portrait of President Donald Trump is hung from the Department of Justice, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The short appeals court order came in a consolidated appeal involving lawsuits brought by several prominent firms, including Perkins Coie, against the DOJ and other federal officials.
“Upon consideration of appellants’ motion to withdraw their motion to voluntarily dismiss these appeals, it is ordered that the motion to withdraw be granted,” the court wrote in the one-page order directing the clerk to update the docket. The decision allows the Trump administration to continue the case unabated.
The orders applied to Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, and Susman Godfrey and seek to restrict the firms’ access to federal buildings and officials, suspend security clearances held by their attorneys, and require government contractors to disclose whether they had hired the firms.
However, the administration’s legal strategy has shifted several times in recent weeks, creating a web of confusion and uncertainty about the fate of the law firms’ executive order legal challenge.
It all started on March 2, when DOJ lawyers told the D.C. Circuit that they planned to voluntarily dismiss the appeals of lower court decisions invalidating the executive orders. But within 24 hours, the department reversed course, asking the court to withdraw that dismissal request so the appeals could proceed.
In a March 6 filing that was already due just days after the government’s back-and-forth reversal, DOJ lawyers filed a 369-page joint appendix to the appeals court explaining why it should overturn the lower court that sided against the executive order, while defending the scope of the president’s Article II authority.
“Courts cannot tell the President what to say. Courts …
