Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
Trump signs orders against four law firms that represented his opponents; courts block all four, and nine other firms settle
Beginning with Executive Order 14230 against Perkins Coie on March 6, 2025, the orders suspended security clearances, restricted building access and told agencies to end contracts.
What happened
On March 6, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14230 against Perkins Coie, the firm that represented Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, and similar orders followed against WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey. They suspended security clearances, restricted lawyers’ access to federal buildings and officials, and told agencies to end contracts with the firms and with contractors who used them.
All four firms sued, and on May 2, 2025, Judge Beryl Howell ruled the Perkins Coie order unconstitutional and permanently barred its enforcement. She wrote that it drew from a playbook of “let’s kill the lawyers I don’t like.” The other three firms had already won temporary orders halting enforcement.
At least nine other firms, rather than fight, struck agreements with the White House to provide free legal work on causes the administration favored. The pledges came to hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal work, in place of the orders’ penalties on those firms.
Who benefited
Trump obtained roughly $940 million in pledged pro bono work from the firms that settled, according to the firms’ own announcements. Every large firm was put on notice that representing his opponents carried a price. The settling firms kept their clearances and government business.
Who wanted something
Trump signed each order and announced the deals himself, with the White House Counsel’s office. The orders rewarded his grievance against the lawyers in the Russia investigation and the 2020 election cases, and gave the administration leverage over the bar.
Who lost out
The targeted firms, their employees from partners to mailroom staff, and their clients lost the most. Government contractors were told to disclose whether they used the firms. Anyone who needs a lawyer willing to sue the federal government also loses.
Why it matters
Most firms settled before any judge ruled. Independent lawyers are how citizens challenge the executive in court, and the orders punished firms for whom they represented. Courts later struck the orders down, but the pressure had already worked on the firms that paid.
Sources Federal Register (primary)NPR