RCFP joins ACLU-led briefs challenging Trump executive orders targeting law firms

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has joined the American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of legal advocacy groups in urging the federal district court in Washington, D.C., to block the Trump administration from carrying out unconstitutional executive orders targeting law firms. 

Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders targeting law firms for their legal advocacy work. Some law firms have responded to the orders by reaching deals with the Trump administration. Other firms — including Perkins Coie LLP, Jenner & Block LLP, and WilmerHale LLP — have filed federal lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the executive orders and asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to strike them down. 

In three separate friend-of-the-court briefs, the ACLU, joined by the Reporters Committee and nine other legal advocacy organizations, argued that the executive orders “violate[] fundamental First Amendment freedoms and other constitutional protections.” The briefs urge the district court to grant the law firms’ motions for summary judgment.

“The fallout from these assaults on the bar may not be limited to lawyers who represent clients or causes that are perceived as hostile to President Trump; the precedent created here could be used by future presidents, of either party, to chill advocacy hostile to their policies or executive branch officials,” the ACLU-led coalition argues in each of the friend-of-the-court briefs. “If allowed to stand, these pressure tactics will have broad and lasting impacts on Americans’ ability to retain legal counsel in important matters, to arrange their business and personal affairs as they like, and to speak their minds.”

In ACLU press releases, Reporters Committee Vice President of Policy Gabe Rottman highlighted the serious threat the executive orders pose to press freedom.

“Efforts to chill the legal profession from representing clients perceived as critical of the administration are a direct threat to journalists, who rely on lawyers to vindicate their First Amendment rights,” Rottman said. “Not only are these executive orders unconstitutional, if allowed to stand they could serve to hinder public interest newsgathering.”

The Reporters Committee regularly files friend-of-the-court briefs and its attorneys represent journalists and news organizations pro bono in court cases that involve First Amendment freedoms, the newsgathering rights of journalists and access to public information. Stay up-to-date on our work by signing up for our newsletters and following us on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X.