What Happened
Reuters reported that the Trump administration faced skeptical questioning Thursday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as it tried to revive executive orders targeting Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey.
Lower-court judges had separately found the orders unconstitutional. Reuters says the orders cited the firms’ legal work, hiring, diversity policies and political ties, and sought to restrict federal-building access, terminate government contracts held by clients, and strip security clearances from firm employees.
At argument, DOJ lawyer Abhishek Kambli said courts cannot review certain presidential security-clearance decisions if national security is invoked. Reuters quoted him saying that “even if it is for improper motives, it is ultimately unreviewable.”
Why This Matters
Presidents have real authority over classified access. That is not fake. You do not want every clearance dispute becoming a three-ring litigation circus with a snack bar.
But this case is about something much bigger than a badge scanner. The targeted firms say the orders punished them for clients, lawyers and viewpoints the president disliked. Former Solicitor General Paul Clement argued that the orders “strike at the heart of the First Amendment and the ability of lawyers to zealously represent their clients.”
The Dumb Part With The National Security Fog Machine
The dumb part is the attempted magic trick: say “national security” loudly enough and suddenly a political revenge memo is supposed to become invisible to judges.
Clement warned that the argument could let a president say Democrats, or law firms representing Democrats, are not trustworthy. That is not a legal theory so much as a loyalty-card program for constitutional problems.
The Bottom Line
The appeals court has not ruled yet. Maybe part of the government’s security-clearance argument survives. Maybe the lower-court injunctions hold.
Either way, this is peak government nonsense: the executive branch arguing that punishing lawyers is fine as long as the punishment wears a little “national security” hat.
Sources
Reuters: U.S. appeals court questions Trump’s push to punish major law firms