The Daily Fuckup

The D.C. Circuit heard oral argument on May 14 in the Perkins Coie challenge to Trump-era executive orders, along with a related case brought by lawyer Mark Zaid. According to the court’s public advisory, the panel took up No. 25-5241, et al., Perkins Coie LLP v. DOJ, et al., and No. 26-5009, Mark Zaid v. Executive Office of the President, et al. The court did not announce a decision at argument.

The appeal is part of a broader fight over executive orders and related directives aimed at law firms and lawyers who have challenged the administration. Lower courts had blocked enforcement of the orders in separate rulings, and the administration has asked the appeals court to revive them while the litigation continues. The legal dispute has centered on whether the government can impose restrictions such as security-clearance limits, building-access restrictions, and other penalties in response to the work firms and lawyers have done.

The Justice Department has also moved aggressively on a parallel front. On May 13, the department filed a complaint against D.C. bar disciplinary authorities, saying they had improperly used bar discipline against federal government attorneys. The filing said the complaint was part of the administration’s broader effort to combat what it calls the weaponization of the legal system. That step came just days before the appeals court argument in the law-firm cases.

The May 14 hearing did not resolve the dispute. For now, the lower-court rulings remain in place unless and until the D.C. Circuit says otherwise.