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The Department of Justice is attempting to revive its court battle with four law firms over punitive executive orders against them issued by Donald Trump last year, reversing a decision just one day earlier to end the fight.
The US government on Tuesday filed a motion to withdraw a court filing it had made on Monday evening in which it sought to drop out of a legal battle with Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey. The government’s filing did not provide a rationale for its about-face to the court.
All four firms have already won rulings from lower courts in cases where they challenged the US president’s decision in the early days of his second term to crack down on their business. That crackdown involved issuing executive orders containing punitive measures such as revoking lawyers’ security clearances.
In a head-spinning sequence of events, the government first said it would appeal against those lower court rulings, then said on Monday that it would drop those appeals, before saying on Tuesday that it does not want to drop the appeals.
The law firms have not yet been given an explanation for the rapid swings in the government’s position, one person with knowledge of the matter said. The person added that some lawyers at the targeted firms were speculating that Trump or those close to him had been embarrassed by media coverage of the decision on Monday to back down. They surmised that the White House would prefer for the government to fight in court, even if that might mean a defeat, rather than to be seen as giving up, the person said.
“Hours after asking the court to dismiss its appeal, the Department of Justice has abruptly reversed course and moved to continue its defence of the unconstitutional executive orders,” Perkins Coie said. “It 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”.
Susman Godfrey said the government had “reversed course” after having given up on Monday. “Regardless, Susman Godfrey will defend itself and the rule of law — without equivocation,” it said.
The other two firms involved in the legal challenge did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the DOJ declined to comment.
In court filings, the law firms opposed what they described as “the government’s unexplained request to withdraw yesterday’s voluntary dismissal, to which all parties had agreed”.
“Under no circumstances should the government’s unexplained about-face provide a basis for an extension of its brief,” they said in the filing.
The government noted that the court had not yet granted its motion to dismiss.
