General Discussion

After abandoning its defense of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting major law firms, the Justice Department abruptly reversed itself Tuesday and asked a federal court to let it continue defending the retaliatory orders.

Just one day earlier, the Trump administration had moved to voluntarily dismiss its appeals in four cases challenging Trump’s orders sanctioning Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, Perkins Coie and Susman Godfrey. Lower court rulings found the orders unlawful and unconstitutional, concluding they were designed to punish the firms for representing clients and causes Trump opposed.....

The dismissal would have left intact blistering district court decisions warning that Trump’s actions threatened the country’s adversarial legal system — the foundational principle that everyone is entitled to representation, even against a sitting president.

But Tuesday, in a stunning reversal and without explanation, the DOJ filed a motion to withdraw its own dismissal and press forward with the appeals.

In plain terms, the administration is now trying to undo its decision to walk away — and instead keep fighting to reinstate the executive orders judges found unlawful.

All four firms swiftly opposed the Trump admin’s sudden reversal, urging the appeals court to reject the government’s attempt to withdraw its voluntary dismissal.