A fourth federal judge in Washington, DC, on Tuesday said that, for now, the Trump White House can’t limit a law firm’s access to parts of the federal government.
The ruling by Judge Loren AliKhan of the DC District Court blocks most of the executive order President Donald Trump placed on the litigation law firm Susman Godfrey last week to punish it for political reasons.
Three other judges in the same court — Beryl Howell, John Bates and Richard Leon — issued similar decisions in recent weeks that curtail the White House’s orders on the other large law firms Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block and Wilmer Hale.
AliKhan’s order siding with Susman Godfrey aims to restore the firm’s lawyers’ access to federal buildings and its ability to represent clients who are also government contractors — the same types of restrictions the other firms have faced, sued over and won back so far.
Susman’s attorneys argued to the court that the administration was illegally retaliating against the firm in a way that violates Constitutional protections and was risking a severe loss of business because of the president’s order.
“This fight is bigger and more important than any one firm. Susman Godfrey is fighting this unconstitutional executive order because it infringes on the rights of all Americans and the rule of law. This fight is right, it is just, and we are duty-bound to pursue it,” Susman Godfrey said in a statement.
The White House has maintained the president should control the federal government as he wishes and has said it targeted Susman because of its legal work related to elections, among other things.