- President Trump has given Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Homeland Security secretary the power to sanction law firms that file “frivolous” lawsuits against his administration. The order came down in a memo on Friday.
- The powers also allow them to recommend revoking attorneys’ security clearances and law firms’ government contracts.
- Nearly two dozen civil rights organizations have banded together to voice opposition to the order.
Full Story
President Donald Trump has authorized Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to sanction law firms that file what they deem to be “frivolous” lawsuits against the Trump administration.
What do the new powers do?
In a memo on Friday, March 21, titled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court,” the White House detailed the powers, giving Bondi the ability to recommend revoking attorneys’ security clearances or terminating law firms’ federal contracts if she deems their lawsuits against the administration “unreasonable” or “vexatious.”
Is this already happening?
The memo comes after the Trump administration issued executive orders against three law firms. The first provided pro bono legal services to former special counsel Jack Smith in his indictment against President Trump.
Another of the firms represented Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and worked with an opposition research firm, which compiled a discredited dossier against Trump. The third was a former firm partner who tried to build a criminal case against Trump.
How are civil rights groups responding?
In a statement, a group of 22 civil rights organizations, including the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, said the memo is “the latest in a rash of statements and actions intended to chill dissent, avoid accountability and weaponize the government to attack opponents of this administration and its lawless actions.”
