Trump signed EO 14230 suspending security clearances and barring federal contracts for Perkins Coie over its 2016 Clinton campaign work

On March 6, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14230, "Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLP," targeting the prominent law firm in explicit retaliation for its representation of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and its hiring of Fusion GPS, the research firm behind the Steele dossier. The order immediately suspended security clearances for all Perkins Coie employees, directed all executive agencies to bar the firm's attorneys from federal buildings, limit government employee contact with the firm, and terminate all existing government contracts with Perkins Coie or entities doing business with it. The order also directed the EEOC and DOJ to investigate the firm.

EO 14230 was the first in a documented series of retaliatory executive orders targeting law firms for their clients and personnel history. It was followed by orders against Paul Weiss (March 14), Jenner & Block (March 25), WilmerHale (March 27), and Susman Godfrey (April 9). At least nine other major law firms cut deals with the administration — providing hundreds of millions of dollars in pro bono work aligned with White House priorities — to avoid similar treatment, a dynamic legal scholars described as the administration extracting tribute from the legal profession.

On May 2, 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell of the D.C. District Court permanently struck down EO 14230. Her ruling found that the order violated the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment's due process guarantee, the separation of powers, and the right to counsel. Judge Howell wrote that the order "presents an unprecedented attack" on foundational legal principles and that no prior president had issued orders targeting law firms in this manner.