Bondi denounces judge overseeing challenge to Trump order targeting Jenner & Block law firm

Washington — Attorney General Pam Bondi lambasted a federal judge who blocked the enforcement of parts of President Trump's executive action aimed at punishing the law firm Jenner & Block, and accused him of overstepping his authority.

Bondi's broadside was revealed in a court document filed by the Justice Department Tuesday in the ongoing challenge to Mr. Trump's directive targeting Jenner & Block. After U.S. District Judge John Bates granted a temporary restraining order last month that prevented the administration from enforcing key provisions of the president's measure, the Justice Department was directed to tell the court the steps taken to comply with the order.

In a memo from Bondi to all department and agency heads, which was included in the filing, the attorney general informed them of the injunction against provisions of Mr. Trump's order and said Bates had "mandated" she "personally send" the notification.

"On March 28, 2025, an unelected district court yet again invaded the policy-making and free speech prerogatives of the executive branch, including by requiring the Attorney General and the OMB Director to pen a letter to the head of every executive department and agency," Bondi wrote. "Local district judges lack this authority, and the Supreme Court should swiftly constrain these judges' blatant overstepping of the judicial power."

She went on to attack Jenner & Block as purportedly "committed to the weaponization of justice, discrimination on the basis of race, radical gender ideology and other anti-American pursuits."

Bondi said that agencies still have the power to decide who to work with.

"As it remains the Executive Branch's position that Executive Order 14246 was necessary policy, the government reserves the right to take all necessary and legal actions regarding 'lawfare,' national security concerns, and discriminatory practices involving Jenner & Block," the attorney general wrote.

Jenner & Block did not immediately return a request for comment.

Jenner & Block is one of three law firms — with Perkins Coie and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr — that were subject to sanctions by the president through his executive action and have since filed lawsuits challenging the orders as unconstitutional. The measures attack the firms for their involvement in challenges to Mr. Trump's second-term agenda and lawyers who were previously on their payrolls, including those who no longer work for them.

In the case of Jenner & Block, Mr. Trump's measure invoked its employment of Andrew Weissmann, who worked on former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Weissmann left Jenner & Block in 2021. 

The firm is also representing nonprofit organizations challenging Mr. Trump's executive order targeting the asylum system, as well as two advocacy groups and transgender people who filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the president's efforts to withhold federal funds from medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to young people.

Under Mr. Trump's executive actions penalizing the law firms, government contractors have to disclose any business they have with the firms. Agency heads were also directed to cancel any contracts with the targets of the orders and reassess contracts with the firms or companies that do business with them to ensure funding decisions align "with the interests of the citizens of the United States" and administration priorities, according to his directive.

Mr. Trump's measure also calls on his administration to restrict access to federal buildings for Jenner & Block employees, and limits government employees from engaging with the firm's workers.

But the temporary order from Bates prohibited the administration from implementing provisions of Mr. Trump's directive regarding government contracting and Jenner & Block's access to federal buildings and employees. The judge's order will remain in place until he issues a final ruling in the case.

While Jenner & Block, WilmerHale and Perkins Coie have all mounted legal challenges to Mr. Trump's efforts to inflict punishment on them, a fourth firm, Paul Weiss, was the subject of its own order that was rescinded after it reached an agreement with Mr. Trump. Under that deal, the firm would provide $40 million in pro bono legal services for causes the administration supports, among other assurances.

At least three other major law firms have since entered into deals with Mr. Trump — seemingly to head-off executive orders targeting them — that include pledges of $100 million in free legal work, as well as other commitments.