Trump admin blasts judge for law firm executive order block

President Donald Trump listens during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

The Trump administration on Tuesday continued its ongoing series of attacks on the judiciary, accusing a federal judge of violating separation of powers by blocking an executive order targeting the law firm Jenner & Block.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought castigated U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in a memo that Bates himself ordered the administration to send to agency officials notifying them of the temporary restraining order (TRO) halting the implementation and enforcement of Trump’s order.

Remaining defiant in the face of Bates’ order, Bondi and Russell begin the three-paragraph memo by asserting that the judge does not have the authority to block President Donald Trump’s executive order or to direct the administration to write the memo.

“On March 28, 2025, an unelected district court yet again invaded the policymaking 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,” the document states. “Local district judges lack this authority, and the Supreme Court should swiftly constrain these judges’ blatant overstepping of the judicial power.”

Trump on March 25, 2025, signed an Executive Order entitled “Addressing Risks from Jenner & Block” which says the Chicago-based national law firm has “abandoned the profession’s highest ideals, condoned partisan ‘lawfare,’ and abused its pro bono practice to engage in activities that undermine justice and the interests of the United States.”

The order is in line with a series of similar attempts to curtail the power and access of Big Law in the federal government — or at least such firms whose attorneys have worked for clients the Trump administration deems “detrimental to critical American interests.”