What Happened
Reuters reported that the Trump administration faced a skeptical D.C. Circuit panel Thursday while trying to revive executive orders punishing four major law firms: Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey.
Lower-court judges had separately found the orders unlawful. Reuters says the orders cited the firms’ legal work, hiring, diversity policies, and political ties, while seeking to restrict access to federal buildings, terminate government contracts held by firm clients, and strip firm employees of security clearances.
Justice Department lawyer Abhishek Kambli argued that a law firm’s business relationships are not protected by the First Amendment. Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, arguing for the firms, said the orders strike at the First Amendment and lawyers’ ability to represent clients zealously.
Why This Matters
This is not just Washington lawyers fighting over who gets the nicer conference room. If a president can punish law firms because he dislikes their clients, staff, or politics, the legal system gets a giant blinking sign that says “Represent the wrong person and enjoy the consequences.”
Reuters reported that Judge Sri Srinivasan pressed DOJ on whether a president can revoke security clearances for reasons unrelated to trustworthiness or keeping secrets. Kambli said courts have no authority to review those decisions if the president invokes national security, adding: “Even if it is for improper motives, it is ultimately unreviewable.”
The Dumb Part With The Magic National-Security Trapdoor
The dumb part is the size of the trapdoor. National security is real. Clearances are sensitive. Presidents do need room to protect secrets.
But “improper motives are unreviewable if we say the magic words” is not a legal argument so much as a fog machine wearing a necktie. It turns accountability into a locked room and then loses the key on purpose.
The Bottom Line
The appeals court has not ruled yet, and the Supreme Court may eventually get dragged into the swamp.
For now, the scene is absurd enough: four law firms, a pile of executive orders, security clearances used like a cattle prod, and DOJ telling judges the president’s motives can vanish behind a national-security curtain. That curtain is doing a suspicious amount of work.
Sources
Reuters: US appeals court questions Trump’s push to punish major law firms