Trump administration abruptly reverses course to plot new offensive against law firms

Just one day after signaling it would stand down in its fight with law firms that refuse to yield to President Donald Trump, the administration abruptly reversed course and moved to renew its defense of the president’s executive orders.

“The administration told a court on Monday that it was abandoning its defense of executive orders targeting the firms,” The New York Times reports. “But on Tuesday, the Justice Department appeared to abruptly change its position.”

According to the Times, the situation is currently “fluid,” as the administration has not indicated what legal strategy it will now utilize, nor has the court ruled that it would allow the Department of Justice to reverse course.

The administration on Monday had asked an appeals court if it could drop its appeal after law firms had won their case in court, an apparent signal that it did not believe the executive orders could withstand scrutiny.

“But on Tuesday morning, the Justice Department appeared to have abruptly changed its position, according to the people, the Times noted. “In an email to the four firms contesting the orders, a department official apologized for the short notice and said it would file a motion to withdraw its voluntary dismissal.”

On Monday, before the administration’s reversal, the Times reported that the administration had “abandoned its attempts to impose potentially crippling executive orders against law firms that refused to capitulate to the president, walking away from its appeal of victories the firms had won against the White House.”

Calling it “the White House’s most significant acknowledgment that the executive orders cannot be successfully defended in court,” the Times reported that the “move is particularly striking given that some firms opted to reach deals in a bid to head off executive orders that President Trump’s Justice Department said it would no longer stand behind.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein commented on the latest development: “A reversal on the reversal as the attacks on Big Law are now back on, apparently.”