On Monday, the Justice Department waved a white flag, telling a court it would no longer try to justify President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms.
On Tuesday, the DOJ decided it was ready for battle again.
The Justice Department filed a notice with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday afternoon, asking for permission to continue appealing lower court rulings that struck down Trump’s executive orders.
The filing came in a case that consolidated the Justice Department’s appeals of rulings by four different district court judges who said Trump’s executive orders targeting Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey were unconstitutional.
Trump issued the executive orders shortly after taking office last year. Had they gone into effect, they would have revoked security clearances for the firms’ attorneys, required a review of their government contracts, and may have barred the attorneys from entering federal government buildings.
Nine other Big Law firms struck deals with the White House to avert similar executive orders targeting them. The deals require the firms to each contribute millions of dollars’ worth of pro bono work toward Trump’s political priorities.
Friday would have marked the deadline for the Justice Department to file a brief to convince the appellate court to overturn the lower court rulings invalidating the executive orders.
It’s not clear whether the appellate court will allow the Justice Department to withdraw its decision to drop the appeal. All four law firms opposed the Justice Department’s motion, according to the DOJ’s Tuesday filing. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the filing.
“Yesterday evening, the Administration told the Court that it gave up and wouldn’t even try to defend its unconstitutional executive orders,” a Susman Godfrey spokesperson told Business Insider. “Today, it reversed course. Regardless, Susman Godfrey will defend itself and the rule of law — without equivocation.”
A Perkins Coie spokesperson told Business Insider the Justice Department “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,” the spokesperson said.
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