NEWS: Sens. Schiff, Blumenthal Lead Bipartisan Amicus Brief in Support of Law Firms Challenging Trump Administration’s Coercive Executive Orders

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, filed an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey, which are challenging the Trump Administration's Executive Orders targeting them for representing clients and hiring lawyers President Trump dislikes.

In the brief, the Senators warn that the Administration's Executive Orders infringe on Senators' First Amendment rights: "The Executive Orders stifle speech and distort public discourse. If opposing perspectives are targeted by the state, the First Amendment's promise of a free marketplace of ideas is hollow. The voices of Senators-individually and collectively-must not be silenced or sidelined through fear or intimidation."

The Senators also raised concerns that the Administration's Executive Orders violate the Separation of Powers: "In our tripartite system of government, the legislative branch must be able to participate meaningfully in disputes implicating the powers of the federal government. When the Executive chills law firms from taking on politicized work, it undermines the ability of the legislature to check the Executive."

"By interfering with the legislature's ability to obtain independent legal assistance, the Orders strike at the heart of the constitutional framework. This Court should affirm the district court's conclusion that such conduct is inconsistent with the structure of the federal government," the Senators concluded.

In the lawsuit filed by the four firms, four separate district court judges issued orders enjoining enforcement of the Executive Orders, holding that the Executive Orders violated various constitutional provisions and were unenforceable. The government has appealed in each of the four cases to the D.C. Circuit. Although the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) moved to withdraw the appeals on March 2, 2026, President Trump reportedly personally intervened to order the DOJ to reverse its position and continue the appeals, which it did the following day.

In addition to Schiff and Blumenthal, U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of Defense and Republican Senator, joined in filing the brief.

Schiff, Blumenthal, and U.S. House of Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-08) have also repeatedly pressed top law firms for information regarding pro bono legal services they are providing to President Trump's pet causes after the firms submitted to the Trump Administration's threats of unlawful and unconstitutional Executive Orders and sham investigations. Schiff, Blumenthal, and Raskin have also pressed a top law firm for answers on the involvement of Boris Epshteyn-President Trump's legal fixer and a co-conspirator to overturn the 2020 presidential election-in cutting deals with the firm to provide free legal services to the Trump Administration.

The amicus brief can be found here.

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